Bull elk, Sharpshinned, Red fox (20140912) An outing with Russell

It has been ages since Russell and I have got together for a run. He dropped by with his still "new" truck and we headed out. We had a primary mission and photography was secondary but we were going to put in a little time if the right things made their presence known. Early in the morning Russell found this long distance Red Fox. This critter was a long way out, and it was pretty early so this is purely an evidence shot. This fox looks pretty scrawny to me :)

Our next sighting was this nice bull Elk, not necessarily a trophy, but with all the bow-hunters out there looking for this fella we felt a little privileged. You can see the remnants of our snow from earlier in the week.

Then just up the road a bit I spied this nice eight pointer headed across in front of us. I just barely got out of the truck in time in grab a quick shot. When he jumped the first fence to cross the road he covered about 20 feet in the air.

Our next find is what I believe is a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk. It seemed to be a little chilled. There are any number of accipiters moving southward following the Warblers.

I know Jamie will love the view of these feet:)  I am interested in the little nubs on its middle toes?

We picked up this Hairy Woodpecker just a couple of miles away, and I thought I would it include it as it has been quite a while since I have thrown one in here.

We headed out to complete our primary mission of the day and picked up this Redtail on the way home. This is the chimney on building where I recently shot a pigeon sitting in a window. I just love the look of this old chimney on a deserted farmhouse,, what a great perch for a bird of prey!

That wrapped up our day as the weather was turning quite nasty with rain and wind moving in. I hope that you too get out for some wildlife shooting this weekend.
Turbo