When I first encountered this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Beaverhead County three weeks ago it was eating a vole on top of this fence post. Soon after it finished the rodent it began to act a little strange.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
In these first few shots it may look like the hawk is simply shaking or “ruffling” its feathers but I’m convinced that wasn’t the case. I’ve seen many birds perform that feather maintenance activity but what was happening here looked quite different. I remember telling Mia while it was occurring that it looked like the bird was “dancing” on top of the post.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
The hawk went through some strange gyrations and postures that were different from what you see with a simple “shake” and they lasted an unusually long time (I have many shots of the behavior). This tail-up posture, for example, is reminiscent of defecation but the bird didn’t defecate and the wing position isn’t what you would normally see during defecation anyway.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
The bird wasn’t shaking to get these unusual feather positions either – instead it seemed to be deliberately and relatively slowly (compared to shaking) erecting its feathers. I have 8 – 10 shots that are very similar to this one and they’re not all in sequence.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
Then the bird decided to take off from the post…
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but changed its mind at the last millisecond and put the brakes on.
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It almost toppled off the post…
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but was able to…
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recover.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
When it finally did actually take off…
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
wouldn’t you know it, I clipped a wing.
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But it very quickly circled around to land on another near-by post. I quickly pre-focused on that post and fired off a burst as the hawk came in but yes, I clipped a wing again. Drats! I still liked the somewhat unusual look at the dorsal side of a landing raptor.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
In the next image in the burst I managed to avoid clipping anything but the right wing obstructed the neck, though I do like aspects of the peek-a-boo pose.
1/1600, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4
And then this strange but delightful raptor gave me this tilted-head pose for several seconds. Perhaps it was using parallax on my pickup. I don’t know for sure but I loved the pose.
Goofy bird!
Ron
Postscript: Some may wonder why I would include images with obvious flaws (clipped wings, part of head obstructed). It’s never been my intention with this blog to only showcase strong images. Occasionally I like my readers to “be there” in the field with me and to experience some of my frustrations along with any successes. At least that’s my rationale for doing so…
Wow…..that was a fabulous show!!! Great shots….awesome hawk. Showing off for you…and you didn’t miss a minute. Thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you, Tracey
Hello Ron,
I’m here via Bob Z’s blog – you’ve a whole mess of fabulous photos here, and I suspect I could spend a good long time perusing them. This is a terrific series of shots. Your imperfections don’t detract at all.
Welcome Sid, and thank you. I’ve never met Bob but I can tell he’s one of the good guys – without question.
Very entertaining series of images Ron, looks like he was having fun.
So was I Jim!
Fantastic! I agree with you on posting “imperfect” images, though your imperfect shots are still pretty great.
Thanks Scott.
Such wonderful action shots… One can really see the amazing musculature of these raptors! Gorgeous shots!
Thank you Christina. Yes, in action they sometimes look like highly toned athletes, don’t they?
Wow, unusual behavior for such a normally stoic species! Clipped wing? Never noticed. The perfect wing-window catch was too eye catching. Cool sequence!
Thanks Mike. I was wondering if you’d agree that the behavior was a bit out of the ordinary so I appreciate your input.
Another wonderful post Ron. It’s the fact that you capture the excitement of being in the field so well, and are able to pass that on to your readers that makes your blog so great. I learn something interesting almost every time I read through your commentary, and that just puts a smile on my face. I look forward to the next post!
Thanks so much Zach. Your comment about “learning something” when you visit my blog means a lot to me.
Never mind goofy and young I will admitt to goofiness even in my dinosaur years. This was (as usual) a brilliant sequence. And yes the clipped images may not have had your usual perfection but they were still delightful and showed different ‘poses’ really well.
Heck, I’m STILL goofy at times Elephant’s Child and I ain’t no spring chicken – not by a long shot.
He’s goofy and young, weren’t we all at some point? I love the pics and the commentary, thanks!
We think alike once again Tana. A bird photographer friend from back east asked me in an email what I thought the cause of the unusual behavior was. Here’s what I sent to her, just before your comment came in:
“Well, it’s a juvie and I’ve wondered if it was just acting up a bit, as juveniles often do. I’ve seen kids at jr high age act even sillier and we’re supposed to be a step up on the evolutionary tree… Of course I don’t know for sure but that explanation keeps popping into my mind.”
Wonderful images, Ron. If the bird had been in CA, I would have suggested Red-tailed yoga. Maybe the vole was tough to swallow…
Your comment got a chuckle out of me Dick. Who knows, maybe that bird was raised down there and is migrating the wrong way for this time of year. 🙂