Hard to crop the photos too much with an iphone camera, but this was definitely one for the books!
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Red-tailed Hawk!
Yesterday dawned bright and sunny and we decided early to go out for lunch. As usual our plans morphed as we headed out to drive to Kettles near Chatsworth. So we by-passed the restaurant and headed around the by-pass for Owen Sound instead, out into Kemble Township looking for more of an adventure. We ended up at the Kemble Womens Institute Lookout over-looking a brilliant blue Georgian Bay, a suitable destination.
Along the way we were surprised to see a Red-tailed Hawk simply sitting in a snowy field not far from the road. We've never seen one this close before, and rarely sitting on the ground.
It rose to an alert position and appeared to be listening to something under the snow, perhaps a Meadow Vole.
Suddenly it spread its wings and pounced forward, giving us a glimpse of the reddish feathers in its tail.
Don't know if it caught something or not, but it sat for a moment looking around, looked right at us and abruptly flew away, possibly with a small mammal for lunch in its claws.
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Like our cat when there is a tiny something in the grass, what a view to see the hawk there on the snow. Those claws would hold onto the catch so well.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful bird!
ReplyDeleteGood catch, you're almost certainly correct that it had seen a vole and tried for a meal. According to the Craigheads' book red-tails needed an average of 2 1/2 voles a day to maintain their body weight during winter in Michigan.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bit of drama. I actually love to see this battle of the species.
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! What a treat for you, and then for me. :-)
ReplyDeleteI so love these...great captures.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures that you got simply by being at the right place at the right time. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Great story with photos.
ReplyDeleteI bet it was a vole under the snow! Fun to watch:)
ReplyDeleteGreat series of shots.
ReplyDeleteThose are awesome pictures! You were meant to be in that exact spot and I hope he got his meal after standing in the snow so patiently. :)
ReplyDeleteI bet he was waiting on a rodent to move so he could capture it. We have red-tails all along our highways. They are positioned in their different territories on fence posts.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! We see more red-shouldered hawks than red-tailed but every now and then we see one. Nice sequence and story.
ReplyDelete