Variability in Red Tail Hawks

Of course, no bird watching outing would be complete without the ubiquitous Red Tail Hawks. Of course, we think "ubiquitous" is a good thing when it comes to Red Tail Hawks! ;-)

We saw this beautiful hawk along the dirt road that parallels Old Hwy 90. We have begun to label some of the raptors we've seen by their "locations". But along Hwy 90, we've seen as many as 14-16 hawks along the road. This particular hawk was not too disturbed by our approach and I was able to get some good shots.








Here, he's getting a good sideways look. I was very pleased with the outcome of these shots, as all of these pictures came out really clear and sharp. I'm not sure if I'm getting better with the camera, or just lucky. Probably the latter. ;-)





After the hawk above decided to fly, we headed over to one of our other favorite bird watching sites -- Woods Road. We passed the North Woods Road Kestrel and the South Woods Road Kestrel -- Marc wondered if maybe they are really a pair? We didn't see the Harrier that usually hunts on the West side of the road, today.

A little further down (South) on the left, we saw this hawk. It was very skittish and flew when we came even with the telephone pole before the one it was perched on. However, it flew toward us a bit, and I was able to get this shot -- wow!

I believe this is the "white eyebrow" hawk that I have pictures of below (in "Spring Migration" and "Hawk of the Day"). We were in this hawk's "usual location". Look at the white band across the tail! This is not uncommon -- but on this hawk the band seems pretty wide. This is one of the better shots I've gotten of this hawk -- definitely one to be proud of!

I should mention, that on the way home, we saw a Crested Caracara flying off in the distance -- too far for a picture -- but we have a good idea of that bird's territory too -- so we'll have to head out there and see if we can find it.... maybe tomorrow.