Red-tailed Hawk (
Walking home one day, I saw this hawk circling over the house. I managed to get a couple of good shots before he disappeared over the other side of the mountain.
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Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
In October we were in New Hampshire again while John worked. The weather was perfectly beautiful after the snow and dark skies of home. Outside enjoying the sun, I heard the familiar squawk of crows chasing their enemy the hawk. I managed to get some shots of the chase but they were poorly composed. Nobody in the sky would keep still!
American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
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Buteo jamaicensis
I wasn't traveling with my camera when I saw this young hawk on a neighbors wires, so I drove home fast, grabbed the camera and returned to photograph him. He allowed me to walk nearly underneath him. He was a bit messy looking. The photos were the best I could do at twilight, and I'm almost happy with the results.
Here, the hawk actually was stretching his legs after sitting for a long time on the wires. My laughter disturbed him and he watched me closely.
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Now that we have moved back to northern Vermont, we see more wildlife than ever. In one week, we've seen beaver, otter, moose, deer, hawks, heron, ducks, geese, fox, weasel, raccoon and many species of birds. Every morning John and I sit together at our computers on the sun porch. While we caffeinate and compute, we can watch the beaver bog activity. One morning last week one of the hawks sat on a dead tree in the beaver pond. He was just beyond the reach of my lens (which is why I need a longer lens!) but I managed to get the shots here. I always enjoy catching a hawk as it takes off in flight (below). They have shaggy pants that are simply beautiful. I had to ask John to step outside and shoo the hawk away so that I could try the shot (the hawk seemed to want to sit all morning!). It worked!
Buteo jamaicensis
On our way home from blueberry picking, I spied this hawk. I got over two hundred shots of him, which thrilled me. He allowed me to come quite close. All of the photos can be seen in my Red-tailed Hawk Flickr Set. When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.
On Monday, April 7, I was taking a drive when I spied four frenetic crows. That is a good sign of there being some predatory bird around. This time it was a red-tailed hawk sitting in a tree (below). Knowing how quickly the hawk would disappear if I were to stop the car for photos, I stopped far off, fixed my camera settings, turned off the radio, and then crept at one mile an hour to a distance that I felt would not send the bird off. Then I leaned out of the car window to shoot (if I had left the car, for sure it would've flown off). I only got two shots before the hawk lifted off from the tree. But I had already aimed and focused, so I was able to quickly capture the hawk as it flew away.
I was able to take more photos of the hawk in other trees. It was easy to find him simply by following the crows that followed the hawk. But none of the photos were as good as these. I am thrilled with the results. When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
Sky Watch Friday