We were looking at a Merlin in the top of the pines across the entrance/exit loop by the  parking lot at Cape May Point State park, in front of the Hawk Watch, when one of the gents that was waiting in line for a look through my scope said, “Hay, look at that!”

That was an immature Red-tailed Hawk taking a bath in a fair sized puddle in the center of the loop, about 60 feet in front of us, right in line with the Merlin. So I swung the scope down, and the camera in. One wet hawk! In the image above he seems to be asking pretty plainly “Whach you lookin at?”

The hawk was, shall we say, busy, so I got to play with the zoom on both the camera and the scope and try several different framings, as well as some video.

Canon SD4000IS behind the 15-56x Vario eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL. ISO 125, 1/320th and 1/640th.

Processed in Lightroom using a touch of Fill Light, some Blackpoint right, added Clarity and Vibrance, and Sharpen narrow edges preset. Color adjusted by eye.

As you will see in the video, these shots were taken over a parking lot and a roadway, both in direct sun, and there was already a lot of heat shimmer in the air…which limits the resolution of the images.