Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Red-tailed Hawk

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On my Monday lunch break I was driving near the college when I noticed a Red-tailed Hawk flying over a field beside the road. I pulled over and took a few photos as the hawk crisscrossed the field in windy conditions.






I expected the bird to move off but instead it started "kiting" - using the wind to allow it to hang almost motionless in one spot. This allowed me to take more photos.






P.S.
This reminded me of a morning many years ago when Dee and I noticed a bunch of of hawks behind our apartment in Pittsburg, CA. We walked over and spent half-an-hour watching absolutely transfixed as 20+ juvenile Red-tailed Hawks kited above a small hillside, swooping down to catch several snakes, which they then passed and repassed to each other. Magical!
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