Sean and the Poppy

No food today — which meant no guarantees, no easy incentives to keep Sean on the perch. And yet the session gave me something I hadn't expected and couldn't have planned for in a hundred years. A poppy had grown right next to the log where I usually place the bait. Just one, perfectly positioned, blazing quietly red against the wood. Sean arrived, settled in, and suddenly there it was — a goshawk and a poppy, sharing the same frame as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I've looked at a lot of raptor photography over the years. I don't think I've ever seen that particular combination before. Sometimes the best shots are the ones the forest arranges for you.