The red-tail wasn’t there and then poof, there he was.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning I pulled up to a seep (a place where water oozes slowly out of the ground) where songbirds often hang out in hopes of getting photos of early migrants. Almost directly in front of me was a rocky point that is a favorite hunting perch of raptors but as I was pulling up I glanced at it and there were no raptors there. Less than 10 seconds later, after I’d stopped my pickup at the seep, I checked out the rocky point again and lo and behold – this guy was there, staring at me. I have no idea where he came from.
The dark morph Red-tailed Hawk wasn’t very close but I took a few photos anyway and almost immediately ‘he’ had uninvited company.
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
A Northern Harrier dive bombed him repeatedly. In this attack he appeared to be doing his best to ignore the pesky harrier, which was made easier to do because this time the harrier didn’t come particularly close to him.
After each attack the harrier circled around to come at him again. This time the harrier’s nearly circular path…
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
brought it right over the top of me. I think the harrier approached my pickup deliberately rather than by chance, probably just to check me out but possibly to challenge me just like it was challenging the red-tail.
In either case I definitely had the harrier’s attention.
Then, after passing directly over my pickup, the harrier…
1/6400, f/6.3, ISO 1000, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
made another run at the red-tail. This time the harrier came closer so the larger hawk had no choice but to keep his eye glued on his attacker.
The harrier dive bombed the red-tail at least five times. One of the attacks occurred before I could raise my lens and two of them were made from left to right in the frame with the harrier not directly over the hawk, so I didn’t have enough depth of field to get them both sharp.
I was just lucky to document two of the five attacks and get both birds sharp.
Ron
Looks like a jet with landing gear down.
It must have been a great experience!
That’s one persistent harrier! (The harrier was probably checking out your license plate.😉) I don’t know if I would be so seemingly “blasé” about the whole situation were I the RTHA. The Red Tail looks a little molty too.
He is a little molty, Marty. This time of year the adult red-tails look pretty scraggly.
Great shots! Love the last two.
Thank you, Michael.
Smaller birds (and people) so often punch well outside their weight don’t they?
Yet another incredible series, that it would have been a delight to be present for.
I thoroughly enjoyed being present for it, EC. Thanks.
I am so grateful to you for sharing, almost all photos give me that ‘once in a lifetime’ feeling. I realize many encounters may be common, but you still provide a wonderful connection to bird behavior with the photographic support, thanks again for making my day a better one!
Much appreciated, Jk. Comments like yours help to inspire me to keep on keeping on.
These are great! I love the harrier checking you out.
Thanks, April.
That’s a beautiful and interesting sequence Ron. Knowing how quick and agile harriers are, I’m sure this one felt quite comfortable that the hawk had no chance of catching it. Still, it takes a bit of courage to repeatedly harass a bird that powerful. I love the closeup of the face, which just looks perfectly confident 🙂
Thank you, Bill. I agree, the harrier still had hutzpah.
Plastic is gonna get us one way or another, just glad it didn’t get you.
The Red-tail Hawk looks a little disheveled. Molting? In the last photo his casual pose is another “Go ahead, make my day” look.
Such sharp in-flight photos of the Harrier both coming and going.
“Molting?”
Most likely, Lyle.The adult red-tails are looking pretty scruffy right now. One of them yesterday had most of it’s primaries only half-grown, or less. And others missing.
Fabulous capture! Love the cocked head of the Harrier as he’s staring you down. What fun to be witness to these two magnificent birds. The Harrier has some bravery (or stupidity) to taunt the Red Tail!
Kathleen, the harrier just knows it abilities and vulnerabilities. It knows that it’s faster and more agile than the red-tail so it stays slightly back from that thin line of danger.
But if the red-tail ever got ahold of the harrier the smaller hawk sure wouldn’t be long for this world.
Sensational series Ron, thanks for sharing!
Charlotte Norton
Thanks, Charlotte.
Ron – check out that first sentence “where songbirds often hang out in hopes of getting photos of early migrants” ?????
That is a really good in flight shot of the Harrier checking you out and the close up is super. Anxiously awaiting the return of our lone Harrier female later in the fall. She is generally our only Harrier and mostly hangs out in the area surrounding our Willow Lake. During the fall and winter season she is often joined by up to five or six Red-tails of various ages and very often dive bombs them trying to get them to move on to other territories. Unfortunately it rarely works, but she seems to thrive regardless of the competition.
Everett. the way I’ve structured that sentence I suppose it could be taken two ways. I was the one that had hopes of getting photos of early migrants, not the birds.
Cheryl nailed it, just like you nailed that Harrier – great close-up of that face!
Thank you, Burrdoo.
That unusual angle on the Harrier really highlights the bright white band on the rump– I’d never noticed it before… I’m glad that the incident with the plastic didn’t cause you an accident– sounds like you managed to keep your cool !
Kris, that white rump is a classic field mark of Northern Harriers.
I’m not sure I kept my cool. I’m just glad I didn’t instinctively jerk out of my lane.
Ron, I loved these photos. I love raptors and have the opportunity to see both at a place we have, called Huffman Prairie. They have never been aggressive toward each other. But tell me in your experience, had the situation escalated, which would likely have come out on top?
Connie, if the confrontation had become physical the harrier would have been toast. Red-tails weigh more than twice as much as harriers and their talons are much more lethal.
The advantage harriers have over red-tails is their relative speed and agility.
Wow, I had no idea about the weight and the talons. Thank you so much! You would think the harrier might take this into consideration before trying to pick a fight.
WOW! What a fortuitous encounter! 🙂 The “owl like” face of the harrier is always interesting.
Damn near hit one with the car a couple of weeks ago at highway speed – it was windy and it wheeled out of a field at low altitude…..NOT amusing for either of us.
Dang, I’ll bet that got your attention Judy!
On this same morning as I was driving at 75+ mph to my destination on the freeway in the near dark, a huge piece of heavy white plastic (it came off of a pickup in front of me and to my right) hit the left side of my windshield and then wrapped around my driver’s side mirror.
I didn’t see it coming so the impact of the plastic scared the poop out of me! It literally sounded like I’d just driven under a waterfall at 80 mph. I had to roll down my window in heavy traffic and rip the plastic off of my mirror.
Damn, it happened fast! My heart felt like it would pound right out of my chest – that adrenaline stuff really works.
YIKES! Hope the plastic didn’t go on to give someone else a jolt. Any of those things at highway speed give one a “jolt” that takes awhile to dissopate….
The last photo looks like a fighter jet landing. Someone should name a plane after that bird. 😁
Great photos Ron!
“Someone should name a plane after that bird”
Get your tongue out of your cheek, Mark… 🙂 Thank you.
Because of my HARRIER plates, more than once when I’ve been gassing up at a service station another customer has asked me if I’m a retired harrier pilot.
Well I hope you’ve said yes at least once.
Nope. I was sorely tempted but then I figured they’d start asking me questions about the plane or flying and I’d be caught with my pants down.
Not just luck, but skill developed over years of practice. Pat yourself on the back, sir.
Thanks, Cheryl. I’ll take a pat or two but luck was certainly a player too.