And a beautiful, dark morph Red-tailed Hawk. Harbingers of a good winter for raptors?
I’ve been on the lookout for Rough-legged Hawks for several weeks now but this adult, yesterday morning, was the first one I’ve seen. It wasn’t close and it had its back to me but at least I got some photos to document the occasion.
Roughies are a true arctic species, spending the breeding season in the wilds of arctic and subarctic Alaska and Canada, so when they first get here they’re aloof and incredibly spooky. Even as far away as I was, I was making this bird nervous so when it took off it launched away from me, giving me nothing but butt shots.
For me, finding my first Roughie of the season is a big deal. It represents hope for a good winter for them, and for me as a bird photographer. Especially since our Swainson’s Hawks are now gone for the winter.
21 minutes later I found this beautiful dark morph Red-tailed Hawk in an olive tree. Readers know that I have a soft spot for dark morphs but I haven’t photographed one since the summer of 2021, so finding this handsome guy was a real treat.
When ‘he’ eventually took off I didn’t have much luck getting flight shots I like but this one was sharp and it shows the red tail of the adult. After this shot he curled around to his left and came in closer to me but he flew behind some trees and when he reappeared I had difficulty locking focus on him again. As a result. many of my flight shots were soft.
This one was also sharp but he was very close to the top of the frame, thus the wonky composition.
I’m encouraged. It’s been a long spring, summer and fall with no Roughies and far fewer Red-tails than usual so it was heartening to find both of these birds in such a short time. The raptor-lover in this naturally pessimistic bird photographer finally feels some optimism.
Time will tell if it’s warranted.
Ron
What glorious finds for you! The photos, your narrative & descriptions, along with the commentary from the FP faithful, are really cheering me up for the winter ahead …. Both hawks are so beautiful, it would be hard to choose between them. I’m so glad we don’t have to! 😉
When I was a kid living in Boise Morely Nelson was my neighbor and he educated me on raptors. Back then in the late 60’s and 70’s redtails were fairly uncommom species. There definitely more prominent in this day and age.
Steven, did you know the Ertters in Boise? A good friend of mine, Nancy Ertter (now Nancy DeWitt) and her family lived next door to Morley Nelson while Nancy was growing up. Nancy and her husband Jim now live in Boise again.
Just this morning (talk about a coincidence!) Jim confirmed what I already knew about Nancy when he sent me this in a message:
“Nancy was a falconry apprentice and grew up as a next-door neighbor to Morley. He inspired her undergrad and grad work.”
I do not remember the Ertters. I lived on Ada street at the bottom of the hill below Morley’s home. He used to let me help feed his birds and clean up the enclosures. I’ll never forget when a golden eagle killed my neighbors cat.
So excited and looking forward to lots of winter raptor shots! 💙 Weird compositions and butt shots be danged — these are a couple of lookers!
Our neighborhood grand lady RTHA has been gone for a couple of years, but I’ve been seeing a new one (a bit smaller, so maybe a male or a sub-adult) hanging around during the past few weeks. I hope this one sticks. Both of our orange trees are packed and one is almost ripe, so the squirrels, rats, and opossums will be busy. Hope the raptor goes for the rats!
Marty, for the first time ever, I’ve had a rat or two hanging around my back fence and shed this summer and fall. I’ll admit it, those things give me the willies.
Could you tell if they were lawyers or politicians. Hard to distinguish the species until they vocalize.
I like rats and mice (have had several as both personal and classroom pets — rats are incredibly intelligent and pretty easy to train), but the wild ones like to chew on wires and try to sneak into the house.
Beautiful bird both! 🙂 We’ve had a few hawks this past week tho not sure what they were…… Perhaps the warm fall has them “lingering” in their summer grounds….
“Perhaps the warm fall has them “lingering” in their summer grounds”
I wouldn’t be surprised, Judy.
Dark morphs are always beautiful to see. The Red-tailed Hawk has the most variable plumage of any North American buteo. Dark morphs can occur anywhere in their range but they are rare east of the Rockies. Alaska and western Canada likely has the largest number of dark Red-tails but many come further south, especially in winter. Some birds are dark but streaked below but I have seen Red-tails that are completely dark except for the red tail. All species of buteos (and many other birds) have dark morph individuals but, like the Red-tail, more are found in the west. Dark morph Swainson’s are particularly attractive for me but all are nice to see.
“Dark morphs can occur anywhere in their range but they are rare east of the Rockies.”
Thanks for answering Gary’s question, Dan. I hope he sees it.
Wonderful. Hope is a fragile essential and I really, really hope that yours are realised.
Thanks, EC. Me too.
Never heard or seen of a dark morph Red Tail before. I wonder if that is an “out West” thing. I’ll have to talk to someone in the know out here in Rhode Island and see what they say…
Gary, I don’t know if it is or isn’t.
It’s the “front brakes” on the red-tail’s wings in the penultimate photo that caught my attention, Ron. I presume it was a momentary flight attitude captured by your skills with the camera, but visually interesting. (Also, looks a bit like he’s on water skis.)
Nina, I see what you mean about water skis.
What a beautiful choice – light or dark? Can’t choose, will take them both! Thank you.
Carolyn, both species have dark morphs. At times they can be a little difficult to tell apart.
Two beautiful special raptors! Thanks
Thank you, John.
The Rough-leggeds look so sweet! Don’t know what gives them that expression. Maybe the pale feathers on the head. We have them here in Northern CA in winter, but in all my years at the Raptor Center, one was never brought in.
“Don’t know what gives them that expression”
I agree, Sallie. I’ve always thought it was because of their more rounded head and less prominent raptor bill.
Here’s hoping for a winter replete with raptors for you and an
abundance of snow for the mountains– hope floats ALL of our
“boats”……….
Fingers crossed on both accounts, Kris.
Rough-legged Hawk – Quite a find!
And that dark morph Red-tail – WOW! What a beauty. Love all three of those shots.
Glad you are feeling some optimism. We could all use a shot of that these days. Thank you for putting a smile on my face this morning.
“We could all use a shot of that these days.”
That’s for darn sure, Michael. The raptor situation around here all summer has been pretty discouraging.
Love those two in flight shots and especially the wings down one.
If I wasn’t so old I would be out there buying an R5. Glad you are getting to see some hawks. I’ve seen plenty of Red-tails here, but no dark morphs. Saw a Merlin Falcon couple days back.
Everett, I may have seen a Merlin yesterday but I wasn’t close enough to be sure. I’m pretty confident it was a falcon and it seemed a little too large to be a kestrrel and much too small to be a Peregrine or Prairie Falcon.
That dark morph is beautiful. Hope you see him again!
Cathy, you can bet I’ll be watching for him.
Wonderful images of the Red-tail I have no hope of ever seeing a Rough-legged Hawk, unless one is driven to visit Connecticut.
Thanks, Kenneth. Range maps show them in Connecticut in the winter. That doesn’t mean they’re there in good numbers but maybe there’s at least some hope…