Needless to say she wasn’t happy about the intrusion.
1/5000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
This is the female rufous Red-tailed Hawk I’ve mentioned twice in recent blog posts. Two days ago she perched on this rock while her mate was perched nearby. Neither bird was very close to me so these shots have been cropped moderately.
Both birds were relaxed and minding their own business when her demeanor suddenly changed.
1/4000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
She turned on the rock and stared at something in the sky to the east that I couldn’t see through the roof of my pickup. My first thought was that the focus of her attention might be her mate coming in (I hadn’t paid much attention to him as I watched her through my lens) but almost immediately I cast that possibility aside because she was clearly agitated.
1/5000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
She took off to challenge the intruder, whatever it might be. Notice how her focus of attention never wavered in this shot and the following two.
1/5000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I deliberately cropped this image to include all of her shadow on the rock that had been her perch.
1/4000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Obviously in this photo I didn’t have enough room above the bird for a decent composition but I wanted to include it to show that her focus on the apparent intruder continued, as it did in the next 13 shots in the burst that were all soft (dammit!) so I haven’t included any of them. I’ll blame that on my lack of mobility after recent surgery. Excuses, excuses!
I didn’t know what caused all the excitement until the intruder passed over my pickup and finally became visible to the west.
1/2500, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
It turned out to be this Golden Eagle. The nest of the pair of red-tails was nearby so I’m sure that figured into the equation of the intensity of their response. Partly because of their steep and awkward angle I never did get any shots that included more than one of the three birds as they skirmished in the air…
1/2000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
but this is the female red-tail as she was closing in on the eagle.
1/2000, f/7.1 ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
And here’s the eagle again as it tried to evade both aggressive hawks. All three birds flew overhead for a while as they skirmished but eventually the eagle had enough and headed south with the hawks in hot pursuit. I drove around the side of a hill to see if I could find them again but all three were either long gone or had landed in an area where I couldn’t find them. So eventually I drove down the road to look for more birds.
This is typical behavior for red-tails when other buteos invade their nesting territory. Here’s what Cornell’s Birds of North America Online (a pay site) says about the behavior in red-tails.
- “Often harass and are harassed by other buteos; Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in California regularly harassed, chased, and attacked, especially near Red-tail nest”.
It may be a fairly common behavior but I rarely see it when Golden Eagles are involved so it was pretty exciting for me.
Ron
PS – WordPress apparently didn’t send out my link email to subscribers this morning. I don’t know what the hell’s going on… Edit: The email just now came in, very late but it’s finally been delivered.
Wow! That is some intruder! She’s a good mama in protecting her nest. I can only imagine the skirmishes that ensued (are those shots “Ron soft” or “mere mortal soft?”). Those ventral flight shots are breathtaking!
Thanks, Marty. Some of them are Charmin soft…
Your comment made me laugh out loud. 😀
Love the series of shots. That is one gorgeous Red Tail!
Thanks, Jean.
Exciting sequence, Ron. I’m struck by the similarity of the underwings in the last two photos.
BTW, I really enjoyed the Magpie posts. Haven’t seen one since my time in Utah. Might have been the best thing about my time there😛
And to think that lots of folks despise magpies. For me that’s hard to imagine. Thanks, Lyle.
What a special day! Makes up for all those days of gray skies. Rufous Red-Tailed Hawk and Golden Eagle, Wow!
A special day indeed, John. Not much of anything would make up for all those gloomy days but these two birds were sure a good start.
These shots are beautiful and amazing. There are a few times I wish your posts would include videos as well. I love the stills but can imagine how exciting a video would be as well. I hope you continue to recover well and hope your summer is what you dream of with your new camper. I look forward to what you will post.
Thanks, Betty. Yes, there are times when videos would be nice but I can’t do both at the same time and given the choice I prefer photos.
What a glorious series Ron! Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte
Thank you, Charlotte.
Wow, that female redtail is a knockout! What a great and exciting series to capture so well.
You have the knack for being in the right place at the right time. Of course, if you don’t go you can’t get there.
Congratulations on being able, mobile and on time to catch this.
Thanks, Dave. I don’t know if I have the knack but if you’re “out there” often and long enough you have to get lucky once in a while!
Beautiful and very exciting photos and story. Your hawk takeoff photos and then the in flight photos of both are gorgeous especially in such a perfect sky. Great job Ron overcoming your painful back to get these. This time of the year and continuing into the spring we will see hawks chasing eagles, hawks being chased by ravens, and both hawks and ravens being chased by nesting song birds. Nothing in nature more formidable than an angry protecting mother.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
“Nothing in nature more formidable than an angry protecting mother.”
That’s for sure, Everett – no matter the species.
She is a stunner, Ron! Wonderful behavioral series. I imagine I’d be late for work on a regular basis if she ever took up roost in my yard!
Hell, I’d quit my job and become a panhandler in the afternoons when the light is poor!
Well, when you are king/queen predator of the sky you deserve ultimate attention!! He/she is NOT going to intimate us!
Love the shots and the story, just wish I could have been there to witness this event!
Can’t get over such a beautiful female Red-tail!
Thanks for sharing, this was a fun wish I was there event.
I can’t get over that rufous female either, Dick. I’m amazed at my luck to have an opportunity with her and a Golden Eagle at the same time. And her mate is no slouch either… 🙂
Sorry for the misspelling of intimidate. Love these shots.
Just wish I had my camera when a Golden flew about 30-40 feet over me a few years ago. Such a beautiful, intimidating bird.
No worries, Dick. I have the advantage of being able to correct my typos and believe me I make more than my share.
NEAT! She is a beautiful bird as is, of course, the eagle! 🙂 The hawks certainly are “fearless” when it comes to intruders or, when the eagle has something they want! At least you got some the hawk heading out to challenge it and the eagle even if not all you’d have liked. I got up late and noticed you’d posted later than usual…….the joy of computers! 😉
Thanks, Judy. I wish I had another chance at this encounter, if so I’d have parked my pickup differently. The angle on the hawks on the side of the mountain was fairly steep to start with and in flight it was much worse. To aggravate matters I’d parked my pickup with my left tires off the edge of the road to avoid any traffic and that made my shooting angle even worse!
OMG, Ron!! What exciting action to view & capture!! Talk about intensity by the female RTH!! I would have loved to see it happen!! With a look like she showing & her mate showing the same look – no wonder the Golden high-tailed it out of the area!! I can also understand your lack of flexibility right now being frustrating when having all this action going on & not being able to move the way you wanted to! Just keep in mind that you couldn’t even go out to do this not very long ago!! You are obviously doing so much better!!
If I’d been that eagle I don’t think I’d have hung around as long as it did. Those hawks meant business and they’re more maneuverable than the eagle in flight. Thanks, Jo Ann.
Great series. I wish I had been there in person to see the action!
It surely was fun to see, Joanne. Thanks.
Very interesting behavioral post, but the next to last shot was the BEST VENTRAL illustration I’ve yet seen– the beauty of it just made me exclaim out loud !
Thank you, Kris. That’s one of the many advantages of shooting in the early morning when you can get light on the underside of a bird soaring overhead if it banks slightly. I just wish that shot was slightly sharper but I like it too.
I love seeing her absolutely fixed look. She’s not to be messed with. (No link yet but was catching up since I missed viewing Sunday. Was under the weather. )
She was focused to the max! Hope you’re feeling better by now, Arwen.
I am, thank you. Just so you know, the emails went out timestamped 6:25 (Mountain for me too).
Yes, I get those emails too. WordPress is usually pretty good about sending them out within seconds of when I publish but this time it took quite a while and that made me nervous because once in a great while they don’t go out at all.