Getting Closer: Red-tailed Hawk's Nest Part 2

Getting closer, both physically and creatively. I have found a good spot to observe the nest that cuts the distance in half - about 100 yards away - and does not cause issues with the nesting hawks. Besides, this is close enough to use a 500mm with a 1.4x extender for the composition I am currently looking to achieve. Yes, I have visualized a shot (or two) I would like to get.

My current objective, while I wait for the eyasses (nestling hawks) to hatch, is to capture a hawk returning to the nest with food. For this shot I have turned auto-focus off and I am pre-focusing on the right side of the nest. The pre-focus with an aperture of f/5.6 and ISO 200 setting are yielding shutter speeds at about 1/500 - 1/1000 depending on cloud cover. This should give me the depth of field I need as well as the ability to get a good string of shots. I am using a gimbal head and an image stabilized lens, so have not yet locked it all in place in case I have a chance for some quick flight shots. However, for the next trip to observe the nest I am going to add a remote shutter release and lock everything down as I am not very happy with the sharpness of the photos. It's hard to wait for an hour for a hawk to return and not get so excited that you squeeze the shutter button a little too hard.

The attached image is very close to what I am looking to achieve. And hopefully there will be plenty of opportunities to continue to watch and take photos using different angles and techniques. More to come.