A Red-tailed Hawk And Red Lichen

For decades I’ve been enormously fond of the red lichens that grow so abundantly on many Montana structures – both natural and not so natural.  They’re commonly found on rocks but they also grow on old buildings – including the weathered wood of the 80+ year old barns and granaries on the Montana farm where I grew up.  The colorful lichens bring back many fond memories for me.

 

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Mia and I have been visiting the Centennial Valley for about five years now (usually 3-4 times every summer) and at least once each trip, as we passed this lichen-covered rock next to the road, I would mention to her how much I would like to photograph a raptor on one of these red rocks.  There’s just something about my fondness for each,  the lichen covered rocks and birds of prey, that has made that kind of photograph a personal goal.  But it never happened for some reason.  The birds of prey just don’t seem to perch on them, preferring instead the fence posts, utility poles and trees that are usually a little too far away from the road.  It’s been an unfulfilled goal for a long time.

But all that changed last week.

 

 

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We found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that almost seemed like it was glued  to one of those rocks!  The rock was next to the road and nothing – cars, cows, big RV’s or two persistent photographers – was enough of a bother to the bird to cause it to fly off.  Based on the messy bill and slightly distended crop, part of the reason for its reluctance to fly might have been that it was digesting a recent large meal but even so this hawk was unusually “sticky”.

 

 

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Most of the time the tail was hidden from view and there wasn’t much going on.

And then the cows showed up…

 

 

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This part of the valley is largely private land and there are lots of cows.  The fences are old and rickety so many of the bovines escape and graze the “virgin” grasses between the gravel road and the fences – and that’s where this rock was.  Here a cow (and several others) is passing between the rock and the fence, very close to the hawk.  The disdainful expression from the bird says it all…

 

 

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It stoically stood its ground long enough for me to take a few portraits…

 

 

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but eventually the bird flew a few feet west to another smaller rock and continued to watch the grazing cattle as they slowly approached once again.  This is probably my favorite shot from the session because we can see the entire bird and this rock isn’t so massive.

I believe it was at this point that a calf deliberately ran toward the hawk and chased it off, but again it only flew a few feet…

 

 

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and landed on one of the fence posts.   Here the young hawk is watching the cattle as they continue to approach from the right.

 

 

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Eventually the cows get so close that the bird has to turn its head the other way to watch them (with obvious distrust).

To me this almost seemed like a war of wills between the relentlessly approaching cows and the stubborn hawk who seemed determined to stand its ground.

 

 

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I switched over to another camera and lens to show a better perspective of this little mini-drama.

 

 

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The cows passed by within about 5-6′ of the bird but it didn’t budge – almost as if it was trying to show its disdain for the lumbering, noisy, dull-witted animals.

 

 

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Then, after the cows had long passed by, the hawk lifted off and left the area – giving me yet another butt shot for my collection…

In my experience, Red-tails normally avoid being in close proximity to cattle so this juvenile hawk surprised me a little but it was fun to watch and photograph the reaction of the bird to the cows.

And hey, I finally got my “hawk on a (red) rock” shots, so I was a happy camper.

Ron

 

22 Comments

  1. Now I know why the lakes, stream and National Wildlife Refuge is called, “Red Rock”. I was expecting geology similar to southern Utah and Arizona. Visitors that come to the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge “visitors center” have asked the same question. Thanks for clearing up the mystery. Geologists call rocks that look out of place, “erratics”, especially if they were deposited there by a glacier. I think the “out of place rocks” in Centennial Valley have rolled off the mountain. Your photos are inspiring!!!!

  2. You got some really nice shots here, Ron. Funny, the ones watching the cows go by. Hopefully because it is young.

  3. What a wonderful series of shots! You have once again captured an intriguing behavior that most of us would never get to see. I can see why you like the red lichens. Not sure I’ve seen red ones before, but I do enjoy the wide variety of colors they come in. It’s nice to know that someone else collects butt shots…

  4. An interesting series. I like the one from the lower rock best too. I was interested in the negative comments about barbed wire from yesterday as I grew up in the country in Australia and don’t have the same negative experiences, although apparently fences can have a killing effect on emus.

    • A lot of folks react viscerally to barbed wire, Sonja. Interesting that it may not have caused as many problems in Australia. Perhaps they don’t use as much of it as we have, or for so long…?

  5. Wow! What a dream come true! your shots are as well Ron! Thanks!
    Charlotte Norton

  6. Gorgeous. And, not only is the hawk one I will probably never see, but our lichen is predominantly green. So, thank you on both counts.

    • But just think of all those Australian birds that you see that the rest of us don’t, Elephant’s Child. It works both ways, of course.

      We get green lichens too but there’s sure a bunch of red and orange ones in Montana.

  7. Beautiful series of photographs of one of my favorite birds…just beautiful!

  8. As a photographer newbie, but neither biologist nor birder, I have a question. In your experience, are juvenile birds more tolerant of humans than adults as this one seemed to be? This is the first year I’ve photographed lots of juvenile wading birds, and they seem to allow me to get closer and shoot longer than do the adults I’ve photographed in the past. Or maybe it’s just my imagination.

  9. As a wildlife rehabilitator, I confess I sometimes take a pessimistic view of abnormal behavior. Young birds that don’t flush when you think they should or seem reluctant to fly could be emaciated. A full crop and signs of recent feeding could mean it found carrion – but also one of the worst things one can do with a starving bird is feed it. It either uses the last of its energy to digest the meal (and dies) or doesn’t have the energy to digest the meal, the food sits in its system and basically rots – with the bacterial toxemia leading to death. I hate to rain on the parade of these gorgeous shots, but the scenario makes me nervous. I’ve even walked up to an adult red-tail perched on a fence (very, very slowly – stopping every time it looked like he would flush, starting again when he settled back down) and grabbed him. He was sick but could fly, just didn’t feel well enough to do it. Skinny birds often LOOK fat, as they frequently have their feathers a bit fluffed in order to keep warm. But anyway – not sure why I felt the need to share that. I guess I just don’t get out enough, so rather than seeing a lot of normal birds around the countryside, I just see the ones in need of help!

    • Some interesting observations, Louise – especially given your extensive experience as a rehabber.

      I really don’t know for sure whether or not this hawk was stressed in some way but I didn’t see any obvious signs of it and I watched the bird up close for quite some time.

    • Louise, I’m really glad that you made this comment. Those of us who are not in rehabilitation sometimes have no idea about things like what you described. I love birds, but am not aware of realities like what you mentioned. I learn from what you say, and I appreciate that opportunity. I also appreciate the effort you put into rehabilitating these beautiful creatures. I understand why you felt you were ‘raining on the parade’, but we need to know these things.

      • Just so everyone knows, I don’t consider the parade as having been “rained on”. I enjoy this discussion and always appreciate the knowledgeable (and thoughtful) comments from Louise. She’s a gem and yes, we “need to know these things”!

  10. Hi Ron, The Red Tail Hawk is one of the finest falconry birds in the world. Here in the US, it only suffers from being “too common” and having a reputation as a beginner’s bird. It lacks snob appeal!
    One of the things that endears the Red Tail to falconers everywhere is its natural tendency to follow other creatures to watch them and see if they scare up prey. They naturally follow tractors, herds of cows, I even read about one that would fly along over the top of a train watching for mice and rats. This easily translates to hanging around with a falconer and a dog for them to scare up rabbits, or mice. They only stay with us as long as we are useful to them.
    Is it possible that the Red Tail is staying so close to this herd of cows to watch for mice and rats that they disturb? It might explain the fact that he has recently eaten and is looking for more.
    As always, beautiful shots. Thanks for giving others a peek into the world that we falconers live in every day.
    Mark

    • Yes, I’d say it’s very possible, Mark. Red-tails used to follow me on the tractor for the prey it would turn up and it seems logical that they might associate with cows for the same reason.

      That said, out of the several hundred red-tails I’ve seen in the Centennial Valley over the years, this is the first one I’ve noticed in such close proximity to cows.

  11. Nothing like being nonchalant about how close the cattle get to him/her! Great shots Ron, as always.
    Have you looked up the species of lichen? As you say, it is very colorful, love the red and hues it is showing.
    Of course you know where there is lichen growing you know that the air is clean!! One way one can tell whether
    they are in any kind of air pollution area – no lichen on anything.

    • I tried to look up the lichen species several times, Dick but could never narrow it down to species. I may have gotten it down to genus but wasn’t sure so I left the scientific name out altogether.

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