To me there is hardly anything more beautiful than a hawk soaring through the air, on the hunt for prey. I love to photograph them on the wing whenever possible. But I take what I can get. For example the Zone-tailed Hawk pictured here was perched in the rain, getting soaking wet. That was the first one I had ever seen and that, of course, is the only photograph that I have, and I was lucky to get it, as it flew away seconds after I took the shot. The Zone-tailed Hawk is often mistaken for a vulture because of it’s slouching posture when perching and it’s similar flying habits.
I have something new for my blog posts now. When I am discussing subjects, such as birds, animals, flowers, etc., I can assign a link, if one is available, to them as in the paragraph above. If you click on any of those links, they will take to you to more in-depth articles. So today I am going to show you some of my hawk photographs.
First up is a Red-shouldered Hawk that I photographed at the Hummer House near Christoval, Texas. Dan Brown, the owner, had put some meat out for it, and after devouring it, the bird perched in the tree.
The Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk are very similar in appearance except that the Coopers is about 5 inches taller. Other than that, they both are long-tailed and short-winged, and are agile in maneuvering to catch their prey. These two photos were both taken at San Angelo State Park.
One of the larger buteo hawks is the Swainson’s Hawk. This one was perched on the cross-bar of a utility pole outside the entrance to San Angelo State Park.
The buteo to which all other hawks are compared is the Red-tailed Hawk. Similar in size to the Swainson’s hawk but very conspicuous with the red tail. This is one that I was lucky enough to catch in flight, and one of my personal favorites.
I hope you have enjoyed todays photos. Click on any image to see an enlargement.