This impressive Red-Tailed Hawk has been hanging out a lot in our backyard. Last night the light was quite beautiful as he relaxed on his favorite perch at about 5 p.m.

Unfortunately, the 80-400 mm lens is my longest focal length, and even with some cropping on the D3s, this was the best I could do when shooting from the deck. Nevertheless, you can see the view he has of the Shenandoah River Valley below as he oversees his domain. Not a bad way to spend an evening!

My son and I keep an eye out for him (or her, not really sure) regularly, because this seems to be his favorite tree, and with the improved view with the binoculars we can really study his behavior and beauty. I hope some day this hawk ventures a bit closer so I can improve my photos of him.