Red-shouldered Hawk Shines on Sign!

A relaxing walk in the park can produce some nice surprises and excitement, especially when I have my camera and am looking for birds to photograph. 

Such was the case last weekend during a stroll around the old Kings Grant Golf Course.

From a distance, I spotted a large bird perched on a Do Not Enter sign. I quickly surmised it to be a Hawk, a red-shouldered one. 

I took some pictures from behind like the one above, then slowly moved in the shade of a tree to see the bird’s face. I’m sure it saw me. These raptors don’t miss much I am sure.

The Hawk proved a good model! It let me take all the photos I wanted and didn’t fly away until I walked away. 

We saw a second Red-shouldered fly to a nearby tree. I wasn’t able to photograph that one but am very pleased with the ones I took of this beauty. 

More Owls (and a Hawk) Oh My!

 

The morning wasn’t starting well. A certain cat of ours who will go nameless used the small rug in the kitchen for his business best done upstairs in the litter box. So I took the rug out to the front porch and was spraying it with the hose when I heard that distinctive hissing sound. Distinctive because in recent days and nights i have seen and heard Barred Owls making this noise. 

So I look up and what’s looking at me but a Barred Owl up in a tree not far from where I was spraying the rug! 

So I go inside and grab my camera. I’m getting some nice photos of the owl when a second one arrives at the scene. In the below photo you can see the pair. 

Tragic Hawk Deaths Stir My Neighborhood

 

My bike ride a few days ago became a rescue effort when not far from my house I spotted this hawk on the ground. It was next to the cart path along the No. 14 fairway at the Coosaw Creek Country Club where we live. 

I stopped my bike to look at the bird that just six feet away or so. It didn’t fly away, instead, it opened its wings slightly. This is a juvenile hawk so I thought it was just disoriented possibly.  Or, more seriously, it was injured or sick. 

After taking a few photos with my phone I rode home and told Alesia about the situation. after giving her location details she rode her bike and found the poor hawk now laying on its side. She took this picture. 

Cooper’s Hawk on the Stalk

 

A stranger came to town yesterday. This Cooper’s Hawk made a rather noisy appearance late in the afternoon as I was sitting on the back porch. 

I looked up after hearing a noise above me in a nearby tree. The hawk appeared to slam into the tree. It may have been after a squirrel or small bird up there. 

It then proceeded to perch on a branch for several minutes. I was able to take a number of photographs from my Adirondack chair. 

I was lucky to have my Canon DSLR at hand. I was back there reading but also listening for the Belted Kingfisher that I’ve heard for weeks around the pond a short distance away.