Red-tailed Hawk is Ready to Take Off

 

For a brief moment, the hawk balanced between stillness and flight, testing the air before taking off.

***

Yesterday, after three long months, I found my way back to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. The evening was warm and still, the banks empty, as if the refuge itself were holding its breath.

In the distance, in one of the marsh's most forbidding corners, a solitary Great Blue Heron hunted — and somehow, in that imperfect place, the return felt miraculous.

Generally, life is good.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

 

I still have a feeling that this is the same hawk that I met a week ago, although I could be wrong.

The Hawk was very close and stayed on the old pole for quite a long time allowing me to take as many photos as I wanted.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it brings great joy.

Generally, life is good.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

This morning I encountered a very difficult situation with a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. The Hawk was perching in the tree but I didn't notice him at first and drove past it. Looking back, I suddenly saw the Hawk.

Returning back in reverse is usually not a good decision, because birds see returning cars as a threat and always fly away. Luckily, this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk remained in the tree. For this I am immensely grateful to him.

Red-tailed Hawk in juvenile plumage has a dark head, lightly marked chest, darker bellyband.

Generally, life is good.

Light Morph Red-tailed Hawk

 

That early cloudy morning returning back from Bear River MBR I spotted a Hawk perching on a log in a sit-and-wait hunting position by the road.  I have never seen such an interesting and majestic raptor before and of course, desperately wanted to take a few photos of him.  Luckily, the Hawk stayed for several minutes on its perch.

At some point, the Hawk turned its back on me and showed its red tail. No doubts it was the Red-tailed Hawk.

Apparently, there are different variations of Red-tailed Hawks.  

I will learn later that they are secretive and buteos with broad rounded wings, relatively short tails and they hunt on the wing. They also can be dark morph or light morph hawks.  The Hawk I met that morning was light morph Red-tail Hawk.

Generally, life is good!

An Adult Red-tailed Hawk

This morning while driving to Bear river I was so pleased to see the blue sky and the clouds.  During last two months our sky was like a pale canvas, the air was smokey because of fires in California.  

This morning I also met an adult Red-tailed Hawk who was perching on the pole by the road.  Meeting an adult Red-tailed Hawk was a pure luck in many ways. 

The Raptor didn't have any intention to fly away and I had a fantastic opportunity to photograph it from different angles.   On the photo above I photographed the Hawk against the sun and the raptor turned into a silhouette.  

When the sun came out of clouds the golden light highlighted the Hawk and his plumage turned into subtle reddish colors.

 

I saw only once how Hawks detect prey on the ground.  They glide or flap-and-glide downward and pushing their legs forward when nearing the prey. I am sure that Red-tailed Hawks use the same technique.

Generally, life is good!

His Majesty Red-Tailed Hawk

I found this Hawk sitting peacefully on a telephone pole.  He was high up, looking for a prey and didn't plan to fly away.  Red-tailed Hawks like to perch also on fenceposts and trees.

Seeing how a Read-tailed Hawk is soaring over the field is very fascinating.  If it's very windy this raptor may face into the wind and hover without flapping his wings, eyes fixed on the ground and when the time comes to attack he does it in a slow dive with legs outstretched.

Generally, life is good!

Red-tailed Hawk in Flight

There are two types of raptors at Bear River. The raptors who stay in the refuge during their migration and who are permanent residents. A Red-tailed Hawk lives at Bear River all year around.

This was my first encounter with this raptor that started not very promising but ended up wonderfully.  Somehow I managed to get two photographs of this Hawk.

Photographing a flying bird against the blue sky is always a challenge for me but this time everything worked OK.

The Hawk was soaring with his wings down letting me to get this shot.