Hawk Eyes

I had a close encounter with a juvy Red-tailed Hawk the other day. Not only was it special to be so close and not disrupt him too much, but to take in the details of this beautiful bird. Had it been optimal conditions, they might have turned out a bit better, but I can't complain of the experience. What I noticed most with this guy was his eyes and the orange ring around the pupil. When he was eying his food, you could read the intensity of his eyes. Take a look at the next photo. I think he is eating an opossum at about 20 feet away. It was overcast so getting the settings right was frustrating!

Shriek!

A close encounter with a beautifully marked Red-tailed Hawk produced more than some decent images. He or she was quite upset with it's photo being taken and gave me the what-what with a shriek that lasted for about 10 frames. These are the images that were the cleanest...(Although Blogger is photo-horrible!)

Red Tail Takeoff

How many times have you drove past hawks that were perched just off the road and you stop just in time for them to fly off and miss the shot? Me too...Sometimes though, you get just enough time to fire off a few frames.