We’re pleased to learn that our image of two Harris Hawks fighting has been awarded the Grand Prize in the 2012 National Wildlife Federation photo contest – winning against over 28,000 other images. I captured the image on one of our Rio Grande Valley photo safaris, which are always an awesome opportunity to get unique images of hard-to-find species like Harris Hawks and Crested Caracara along with many colorful woodland species and migrants. I’ll be leading another trip back there this year, featuring the award-winning Dos Venadas and Campos Viejos ranches, so I hope you can join me. You never know whether you’ll get a prize-winning image of your own – we’ll certainly do our best to help you with plenty of 1-1 instruction, image critiques as desired, and prime shooting locations.

For more on the Harris Hawk image and full contest results, NWF is featuring them on their website, and you can get a Hawk of your own by purchasing our 2013 calendar.

Story behind the image from the NWF Contest write-up:

David Cardinal
Portola Valley, California

Grand Prize

When Cardinal spotted a female Harris hawk guarding road kill in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he expected action. These raptors form hunting groups to protect food from other predators, including non-group members of their own kind. Cardinal pre-focused on a branch where an interloper was likely to land. Soon another Harris hawk showed up, and the first bird attacked. He says his winning image captures the moment when the newly arrived hawk turns to meet the defending female's fully deployed talons.