Afternoon Buteo Call
Yes, I did just make that joke.
It was hard to contain any Twin Cities resident indoors today. After sub zero temps, the weather really warmed up to the twenties and thirties over the weekend and today it got to the low to mid forties--whoot. And we need to gather our rosebuds while we may, because tonight it's rain that turns to ice as the temperature is supposed to plummet to a low of 3--which as coincidence would have it will be our high for tomorrow, with the temps going somewhere in the neighborhood of -14. That's about a 60 degree change in the next twenty-four hours--how do we not a get winter tornado with that?
So, it was take the spring like day while you can. I took a quick jaunt over to the Minnesota Valley NWR. When I arrived, I could hear an angry red squirrel squeaking and general angry bird chips. I wondered if the sharp-shinned hawk was around and dashed behind the Visitor's Center.
Well, it wasn't a sharpie, but a young red-tailed hawk (not the yellow eye and the lack of red in the tail). It was half heartedly preening its feathers and bobbing its head watching was moving below. It was close, but not in the best light.
Some of the birds seemed to sense that they weren't high on the prey item list for this species of hawk and returned to the bird feeder. But, young hawks are unpredictable because they'll try anything once, so birds that did brave the feeders, keep a watchful eye towards the hawk.
I think the red-tail got tired of the squeaky red squirrel and it flew down the hill towards the river--which was great because I could get a photo with a better background. The only problem was that it was facing away from me. So, I did my best whistled impersonation of a red-tailed hawk scream and it looked at me. Great day with a great hawk. And with that, I left it to hunt in peace.
It was hard to contain any Twin Cities resident indoors today. After sub zero temps, the weather really warmed up to the twenties and thirties over the weekend and today it got to the low to mid forties--whoot. And we need to gather our rosebuds while we may, because tonight it's rain that turns to ice as the temperature is supposed to plummet to a low of 3--which as coincidence would have it will be our high for tomorrow, with the temps going somewhere in the neighborhood of -14. That's about a 60 degree change in the next twenty-four hours--how do we not a get winter tornado with that?
So, it was take the spring like day while you can. I took a quick jaunt over to the Minnesota Valley NWR. When I arrived, I could hear an angry red squirrel squeaking and general angry bird chips. I wondered if the sharp-shinned hawk was around and dashed behind the Visitor's Center.
Well, it wasn't a sharpie, but a young red-tailed hawk (not the yellow eye and the lack of red in the tail). It was half heartedly preening its feathers and bobbing its head watching was moving below. It was close, but not in the best light.
Some of the birds seemed to sense that they weren't high on the prey item list for this species of hawk and returned to the bird feeder. But, young hawks are unpredictable because they'll try anything once, so birds that did brave the feeders, keep a watchful eye towards the hawk.
I think the red-tail got tired of the squeaky red squirrel and it flew down the hill towards the river--which was great because I could get a photo with a better background. The only problem was that it was facing away from me. So, I did my best whistled impersonation of a red-tailed hawk scream and it looked at me. Great day with a great hawk. And with that, I left it to hunt in peace.Labels: digiscoping, hawks, Minnesota Vally NWR
posted by birdchick at 3:47 PM
10 Comments:
What a great image of the hawk – the composition and colors are outstanding. Also, a great title for the post.
I consider seeing a red tailed hawk a good luck sign so reading this post was twice as good as normal. Thanks for sharing!
I like the picture.
Wonderful photos - specially the one with the woodpecker and the cardinal! I love seeing birds of prey, though over here we don't get red tailed hawks!
Pretty sure I found my first Sharp-shinned this weekend, right after a gorgeous Barred Owl that was still out and about when the sun finally burned through the clouds. And with that, the dozen or so bald eagles of various ages that I headed out to see in the first place were promptly reduced to being a mere footnote for the day.
I love the second Redtail photo. For some reason it reminds me of a Robert Bateman painting. The colors of the bird and white and brown of the snow and branches go together just perfectly! Great shot!
That second picture is like,"You talkin' to me?"
When I posted the comment above about how much I liked the second hawk image, I was thinking that it reminded me of a Robert Bateman painting just as Carolyn later said. I went to a site with some of Bateman's art and there is an eagle painting with similar structure and tones to the hawk photo. I was fortunate to see Bateman's exhibit at the Smithsonian in 1987 – some truly incredible work.
I love Bateman's stuff and am honored that anyone could compare one of my photos to that. He did a sketch of one of our ed birds at TRC: Samantha the arctic phase great horned owl:
http://www.grandcentralgallery.ca/bateman/samantha.html
Hi Sharon, I haven't been posting comments too much, been TOO busy, but that photo of the young redtail is impressive. I think I'm going to put it as my wallpaper for awhile. See you in North Dakota in June!
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