Black Harrier - FINALLY!

How can I explain that feeling when after years and years of trying I eventually managed to tick the elusive Black Harrier off my bucketlist of images to capture!

The Black Harrier is a rare endemic to the Southern African sub region and is now considered endangered in South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho with fewer than 1000 breeding pairs remaining.

Where to find them

The Black Harrier favors the Western and Southern coastal plains and the West Coast National Park is conveniently located along the Western coastal plain - we love visiting West Coast National Park as it is just outside Cape Town which is convenient considering how challenging they are to photograph.

Failure

I think the most difficult part of photographing these harriers is their flight patterns, they fly super low over the bushes and as soon as you have focussed on one it changes course with a flick of its tail and all you are left with is a blurred image of a bush.

You will also find them following roads in National Parks hoping to find field mice etc to prey on, the problem is that as soon as they are in the vicinity of a car they change course and head off over the bush and out of range of even the longest telephoto lens.

Persistence

I have to admit that the Black Harrier kept me motivated to visit my local National Park as I was determined to get that image I have dreamt of for years. The countless times where I felt disappointed that I did not nail the shot when the harrier actually flew on a relatively straight path, blurred wings due to shutter speed being too slow etc etc… all of these emotions build up over the years making this mission into something rather significant for my bird photography.

success

As usual I had been out every weekend and managed a few good sightings but was yet to snap that photo when all of a sudden a flash colour caught my eye. I quickly followed the road and as we turned the corner the black and white feathers confirmed it was a Black Harrier! It was around 17h00 so the light was good and the direction the bird was flying resulted in the light being behind me which was perfect. Was THIS the moment?

I quickly checked my settings to make sure my shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the action of the wings - okay all set now where is that bird! I managed to position myself and as the bird came into view through the window of my car I pressed the shutter to trigger a burst of frames.

To my surprise the bird did not head away from the road which gave me one more chance. As before, as soon as the bird was visible through the window (please note it was only for a second or two), I pressed the shutter hoping that one of the high speed continuous frames would result in a clean, sharp image.

The moment

All photographers out there can relate to the emotions felt when you push the playback button to review your images. With shaking hands I pushed the button and started to scroll through the images …. blurred, blurred, wing clipped and THEN a few frames that were tack sharp with beautiful wing positions - I had NAILED it!

I turned to my wife and said - WE GOT IT!

Magic

I firmly believe that photography is more than just an image, it is the story behind it, the emotion it evokes, the journey it took to capture it - that is what it is ALL about!

I think Paul Nicklen, a famous National Geographic photographer, summed it up perfectly after one of his photographic assignments - “When the vision in your mind becomes the lump in your throat - that’s photography!”

The image

Till next time…