Hunting

March 01, 2017

Hunting

While the Pres did not go hunting at all this Winter, I was able to capture a few of the "hunters" who frequent the surrounding woods.

Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-Shined Hawks always look so poised and composed to me. They are so incredibly fast and agile gliding through the dense woods. However, they seem to retreat deeper into the woods as soon as they know they're being watched.

Then, of course, there are the Red-Tail Hawks and Red Shouldered Hawks who will only go venture in so far because of the Eagles. An interesting show of aerial dexterity always intrigues me when I watch the powerful and agile Red-Tails gang up on an adult Eagle every now and then. Of course, I'm rooting for the Eagles...always.

The robust bodied, broad-winged Red-tail and Red Shouldered hawks are known as buteos. They are often spotted circling wide and high in the air, while the Cooper's and Sharp-Shined hawks, known as accipiters, with short, wide rounded wings and long tails,

fly at much lower heights in a flap, flap, flap-sail flight.

Red-shouldered Hawks are a much smaller and lighter hawk than the Red-Tails.

Last week, when I peeked out the downstairs door, I spotted this "hunter" watching and waiting for either moles or mice near the blackberry bushes. It looked so cute sitting there I just had to go get the camera. The old 10' birdhouse seemed dwarfed by the hawk's, size yet I wondered and hoped that it wouldn't build nearby.