Bad to the Bone

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f4.0-5.6 IS II, 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO: 6400

The sun was completely down when I came across this hawk sitting on a fence post just outside of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in Merced County yesterday.  I wasn't expecting much from this shot.  I had the f-stop at 5.6, which is as wide as it will go when zoomed out to 250mm.  The camera cranked the ISO up to 6400, which is as high as it goes.  I usually don't like the photos I get with a high ISO, they're usually too grainy.  In this case, though, I like how it turned out.  This bird looks like a bad ass, and the roughness added by the high ISO adds to the hard look of the bird.

I saw a lot of hawks at the refuge yesterday.  I'd guess I had to have seen at least four dozen.  I've never seen such a dense concentration of raptors, and I've been out to that refuge many times in the last couple of years.  I even saw a bald eagle a few miles away from the refuge yesterday, which is the farthest South that I've ever seen a bald eagle.