Saturday, February 24, 2007

Red Tails up close

We stopped the car almost directly beneath this hawk. I had to twist around and shoot almost vertically to get this shot. But WOW! I think it was worth it. I got three good shots of this guy before he flew. (The other two are almost identical to this one -- so I'm sparing you! ;-)


We traversed our birding route in reverse today. And I saw this hawk sitting on a post not too far from the road. Of course, as soon as we stopped he flew. This one appears to be a bit lighter than the one above. As I've mentioned before, Red Tail hawks have a huge variation in their coloration.

In addition to these hawks, I also saw the hawk with the missing primary on his right wing. He was sitting on a fence post not 10 feet from us, but we did not stop quickly enough, and then he flew. I was unable to get a shot. However, this time he was much closer to our house, perhaps a mile (or maybe less) from where we usually see him.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures, as always. Sorry I haven't been around lately. Work keeps me busy, which in turn brings more money in, which keeps me employed! Hope everything is okay with you, Stormy, and the ever-lovin' and adorable Marc! Love you guys!

Stormy said...

Hey Neo!

Good to hear from you. I went really quiet myself for a few months -- for the same reason -- work was very real! ;-)

I'm trying to post most weekends. You might want to add the site to your RSS feeds.

Lee said...

Hi Stormy...this is "Sunny" from LST...aka "Lee" (real name...from Kitchen Connection)...Marc directed me over to here and I'm glad he did.
Great pics. Hawks are magnificent birds, aren't they? So majestic. I hope you're enjoying your new camera as much as I am mine...it looks like you are! :)

Lee said...

'Tis only me again. So many of your photographs would be so suited to blowing up and framing, Stormy. They are great. I particularly like the one of the blue-bird on the barbed-wire, too. That's is a little beauty.

Love your cabin in a wood, too. Looks great. :)

Stormy said...

Hi Sunny/Lee,

Welcome to my blog. I guess we're just the weather gals! ;-)

I'm really having fun with my camera -- I visited your blog and I see you're having fun with yours too.

I'm thinking of collecting my favorite pics and making calendars for Christmas gifts next year... that is if I can get a discount from the photo store -- they want $20 a piece for the things!

Unfortunately the bluebirds won't enlarge -- they're a bit fuzzy. But a friend told me the other day she has some bluebirds on her land -- so I might pay her a visit this weekend.