Blog Archives

Redtails in the Air

The Rufous Redtail

Friends, this beautiful copper-colored redtail (right below) is a rufous-phase Redtail Hawk and it is estimated that the rufous phase makes up about 5% of the total population of Redtail Hawks.  So this is a rather special hawk and his light eyes mean he is a juvenile hawk as the eyes get darker as redtails mature.  You can see the difference in the chest color by comparing the rufous (right) to the more traditional redtail (left) in the images below.

Red Tailed Hawk

Friends, this beautiful red tailed hawk  is in hand at Hawk Ridge on a Saturday morning.  Lots of people around so he is a little excited which is why his tongue is hanging out.  They have a little tunnel on the back of their tongue which helps them to breathe better when eating or when excited.  The images below show his beautiful red tail and his outline while in flight. Tomorrow i will show this bird as he is released back into the wild. til Tomorrow MJ

Pièce de résistance- Red Tailed Hawk

Friends, this Red tailed Hawk is indeed the best of my hawk images to date.  His crouched pose and withering stare show his predator character very well.  You can be glad you are not a mouse or vole scurrying across an open grassy meadow where this bird can see you.  From research data, it appears that these birds may be susceptible to the West Nile virus, so swat the mosquitos and save the redtails. til Tomorrow MJ

Weekly Photo Challenge: Wrong

Friends, I was photographing this young red tailed hawk when he rapidly left the scene.  There is a recent trend to accept some bird photos as “pleasing blurs”, but i call this one the wrong shutter speed and poor panning technique, so in essence this is not a pleasing blur. I will share one of my better shots in the near future til Tomorrow MJ