Red-tailed Hawk and a Falcon

[Eric CAN]

The Falcon is a species found in North Africa, he's a close relative of the Peregrin Falcon, the trainer mentioned :



And this is a Red-tailed Hawk :



I plan to return at this location, today was very cloudy and had to take these shots at ISO800, I couldn't get the shutter higher than 1/640 sec. I attempted to take them in flight, but it was simply too blurry. I hope to get there by the weekend.

Beautiful bird even, this is not my normal habit of taking them outside the wild, it's an exception that confirms the rule, lol :-)

Cheers

[geoffs]

Eric, those shots are pretty neat.

They exhibit "another" side of wildlife... wildlife in captivity. Some people think that animals should never be kept in captivity but there is a place for it, especially if the animal encountered some misfortune and needed rehabilitation but could never make it on its own in the wild thereafter.

A friend of mine in college was licensed as a raptor rehabilitator. Lucky thing for me too because I used to see all sorts of hawks and falcons real up close because of it!

The red-tailed hawk here looks a bit disheveled and like he means business. Now, the falcon looks downright sleek - what a specimen! Looking at that falcon, you can just imagine how it might hit 100mph in a dive onto some unsuspecting prey. Wow.

[bobbyz]

Nice shots Eric CAN.

[eric s]

I made the mistake of looking at the picture before the text. I'm thinking "what type of falcon is that? I wonder if he posted a picture of its back so I could look at the plumage? Its around the size of a Peregrin, but it doesn't look like one..." And then I read your comment that it's not from North America. :-)

I think they are nice shots, with the bonus of the bird I'll probably never see in the wild.

Eric

[Eric CAN]

-eric s wrote:

I made the mistake of looking at the picture before the text. I'm thinking "what type of falcon is that? I wonder if he posted a picture of its back so I could look at the plumage? Its around the size of a Peregrin, but it doesn't look like one..." And then I read your comment that it's not from North America. :-)

I think they are nice shots, with the bonus of the bird I'll probably never see in the wild.

Eric

Hi Eric, I think we have a fair chance to eventually catch Red-tailed Hawk, very common in our area indeed. I already have seen often in my neighbourhood an immature Cooper Hawk quite often actually. I know when he's arround cause Blue Jays gives the alert, and won't stop until he's gone. Actually a month ago I've seen 3 Blue Jay litteraly harassing the Hawk, one of them was diving on him, picked him with his beak, while the other 2 were flying around, this ballet last about 5 minute or more. It was so funny to see

Cheers

[Eric CAN]

geoffs wrote:

Eric, those shots are pretty neat.

They exhibit "another" side of wildlife... wildlife in captivity. Some people think that animals should never be kept in captivity but there is a place for it, especially if the animal encountered some misfortune and needed rehabilitation but could never make it on its own in the wild thereafter.

A friend of mine in college was licensed as a raptor rehabilitator. Lucky thing for me too because I used to see all sorts of hawks and falcons real up close because of it!

The red-tailed hawk here looks a bit disheveled and like he means business. Now, the falcon looks downright sleek - what a specimen! Looking at that falcon, you can just imagine how it might hit 100mph in a dive onto some unsuspecting prey. Wow.

Geoff, I spoke to the lady trainer and she mentioned that this species of Falcon can exceed over 300 kph in a dive. That's 180 MPH. Both of them showed me some prowess of the Hawk by having a peace of raw meat at the end of a rope, swinging the rope in circle vertically. On the 3rd attempt the Falcon got his meat. He was explaining how they proceed, they get altitude behind tall trees further away, take a dive, if they miss they keep the momentum, gain altitude again and so on.

Ohh I've been told also that Hawks are common in airport area, not only those who are trained to chase Pigeon away, but the wild one. I have a small airport near by, I think I'll go there eventually.

Thanks and cheers

[geoffs]

Eric CAN wrote:

Geoff, I spoke to the lady trainer and she mentioned that this species of Falcon can exceed over 300 kph in a dive. That's 180 MPH.

That is just so unreal, Eric! They better not miscalculate their height above ground or else there'll be nothing but a big splat!!! :-)

Ohh I've been told also that Hawks are common in airport area, not only those who are trained to chase Pigeon away, but the wild one. I have a small airport near by, I think I'll go there eventually.

Especially look for things like buteos (Red-Tailed, Broad-Winged, Rough Legged Hawks) hanging out on fence posts, telephone polls, etc, along roads in the open in suburban and country areas. When I am driving along a lesser traveled highway I will see many buteos this way.

Now, things like the accipiters (Cooper's, Sharp-Shinned, Goshawk) you will find in the woodlands more often than you'll ever see them out in the open areas.

[Eric CAN]

Thanks for tips Geoff, appreciate it indeed

I'm working on more shots taken yesterday, got a little surprise for ya (it's not a bird)

Cheers

[eric s]

I've got a fair number of hawk shots, actually. I was really saying that I never expect to see that Falcon ever.

I'm friends with the former head of the New England Hawk Watch Society. A really good birder and a lover of all the rapters... it's fun to go out with him. He runs a "Winter Raptors Field Trip" to raise money for the local audubon society. One night of pictures and ID training, and then one morning of ID'ing in the field. This was our ID list from that day:
4 Bald Eagles (1 ad, 2 subadults, 1 first year bird; NBPT Deer Is, Eagle Is)
8 Northern Harriers (2 ad m, 2 ad f, 2 imm on PI; 2 imm Salis.)
1-2 Cooper's Hawks (juv; NBPT, Deer Is.)
6 Red-tailed Hawks (4 Salis; 2 NBPT)
4 Rough-legged Hawks (2 lt morph, 2 dark morph inc. 1 ad male PI)

What a great day that was. 2 adult males and the morphs of the rough-legs make is extremely special.

Here is the treat for Geoffs, who wasn't here when I posted this gallery originally.
http://www.marx7.org/~esmith/galleri...morph_red_tail

I doubt there are many of those in the world, I was lucky. I can't wait to try again next winter with the 600mm!

Eric

[geoffs]

eric s wrote:

This was our ID list from that day:
4 Bald Eagles (1 ad, 2 subadults, 1 first year bird; NBPT Deer Is, Eagle Is)
8 Northern Harriers (2 ad m, 2 ad f, 2 imm on PI; 2 imm Salis.)
1-2 Cooper's Hawks (juv; NBPT, Deer Is.)
6 Red-tailed Hawks (4 Salis; 2 NBPT)
4 Rough-legged Hawks (2 lt morph, 2 dark morph inc. 1 ad male PI)

What a great day that was. 2 adult males and the morphs of the rough-legs make is extremely special.

Yes, I'd say that you had a rather great day looking for raptors! It helps when you have someone with you that is experienced at id'ing them, doesn't it? :-)

I've seen similar variety of raptors, although not quite the same species list, when I used to travel to Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania to see the spring and fall hawk migrations. Once again, I've got urge you to go there, Eric, if you do decide to travel down to Cape May (plus a side-trip to the Great Swamp!).

There is a resident Bald Eagle about 4 miles from my house along one of the rivers to the south of me. He seems to live along the property line of a friend of mine. I will be making sure to get out there and see what shots I can get (kind of academic with my current setup but once I get something better it should be interesting).

Here is the treat for Geoffs, who wasn't here when I posted this gallery originally. http://www.marx7.org/~esmith/galleri...morph_red_tail

Now, that was a treat! As you might have guessed, I've never had an opportunity to see an albinistic red-tail. I bet you were just a little excited! BTW, if you hadn't had your experienced friend along with you, would you have known what it was? (for me the tail is an obvious giveaway, but in the heat of the moment I suppose you could second guess yourself)