The Story Of An Encounter With An Immature Red-tailed Hawk

After such a disappointing and traumatic night and early morning for many of us, I seriously considered not posting today. But I needed something to take my mind off it all and many of my readers are probably in the same boat, so I decided to go ahead with my original plans. Besides, life goes on… 

 

1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Two days ago I had a slow morning for birds in the west desert. In three hours of looking for birds, this Immature Red-tailed Hawk was the only raptor I got in my viewfinder.

‘He’ had his back to me when I found him so I thought about passing him by but I’m glad I didn’t. I never did get any great takeoff or flight shots of him but I got some photos I like and the encounter turned out to be an interesting one.

 

 

1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

When he pooped I anticipated two things – that he’d take off soon and that he’d take off away from me.

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

Eventually I was right on both counts. When I took this shot I figured he was about to be long gone.

But notice that pointy rock just below the tip of his left wing.

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

That rock was his destination.

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

This photo was taken a split second after he landed on that rock and turned his head in my direction. His wings aren’t yet completely settled and his tail, with one broken and mostly missing tail feather, is still partially flared.

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

On his new perch he was only a few feet further away from me than he’d been before but apparently that was enough to make him more comfortable in my presence because he stayed here for a very long time. In this even light and natural setting I got many photos of him that I like very much.

However, I was disgusted with myself for missing the takeoff and flight shots when he eventually took off. His takeoff angle had the potential to provide me with some really nice flight shots but I missed them because I was… distracted. All l’ll say about that is that I drank way too much coffee that morning.

But I wasn’t so distracted that I didn’t notice that he curled around the edge of the cliff directly behind me and when he disappeared around the cliff edge his flight posture indicated that he might be about to land on the same cliff where I couldn’t see him.

So I backed my pickup up about 100′ and…

 

 

1/5000, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

there he was, looking almost like he was waiting for me to show up.

He wasn’t as close as he’d been before and once again he had his back to me but the cliff face was right in front of him, so this time he couldn’t take off directly away from me. So I waited and waited for him to take flight but he never did.

However, when I looked away from my viewfinder for a moment he did disappear from this perch. I knew he was still there on the cliff face somewhere but I looked and looked for him and couldn’t find him again. He apparently still had his dark back to me and it was so well camouflaged I just couldn’t find him again. My bad ‘shooting eye’ didn’t help with that situation.

 

 

1/6400, f/5.6, ISO 640, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

But eventually he turned around and hopped up onto this rock, which made his nearly white breast stand out like the proverbial sore thumb, so I spotted him again.

I waited a long time for takeoff and flight shots but he was comfortable here and had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

 

 

1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 250, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I decided to creep slowly forward to get different backgrounds while he was on the same perch. But the further forward I drove the more the rock in front of him blocked my view of him.

So after spending a total of 21 minutes with him I drove on down the road to look for other birds. All I found was Wild Turkeys and I didn’t get any photos of them I like very much. But at least I got lots of photos like #5 and #6 above.

Ron

 

41 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting in spite of the bad news. I look forward to your blogs and need all the help I can get right now to get out of my despair. Your photos and words are a bright spot in the darkness.

  2. Nice. Be happy for what you did get.

  3. Wow — guess I’m the only one of your followers that was super happy with the national election results. Loved the red-tailed hawk photos. I haven’t seen nearly as many of them in my neck of the woods (north central Washington State near the Canadian border) the last couple of years, but boy have the Osprey and Turkey Vultures rebounded in population.

    With regard to your “shooting eye” …. after suffering a retinal detachment and laser surrey to my right DOMINANT eye, I’ve had to take all my photos using my left eye in the viewfinder. It didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would before I was able to do that naturally. The human body is a marvelous machine! Best wishes for your upcoming cataract surgery. They screwed mine up somewhat, but I was still left with good enough vision to enjoy life without glasses in most instances. I still have glasses for looking FAR away (driving) and readers for looking at things VERY close (12 inches away or less).

    • Karen, I haven’t had a retinal detachment so maybe I’ll get luckier than you were with this surgery. I can’t imagine having to shoot with my left eye.

  4. Hi Ron…

    I’ve enjoyed your photographs and commentary over the past several years and your site stands atop my daily Bookmark list. I’ve not commented in the past, but I felt compelled to after reading this post and your header paragraph. Last night’s results has put in peril so many climate, environmental and wildlife protections that we’ve relied on for years.

    As an avid bird photographer who has taken his share of bird pooping photographs, I hope future generations will be able to continue to capture such moments, share in the laughter and to enjoy clean air, water and a healthy planet.

    Tom

  5. I too didn’t get much sleep last night and it took me a while to get around wanting to open my email but I’m very glad I did. Thanks Ron. You remind us that there are bright spots in this world. If we get out in nature we can always find them somewhere to bring us those moments of joy. and at those times that we can’t get out ourselves, your photos provide us a window into some of those joys.

  6. Beautiful! Need that today to ease my anguish over the election both Federal and closer to home.

    Word of the day “recrudescence”

  7. So many stunning images! I really enjoy the good looks I get at these birds due to your patience, diligence, and skill. Perfect to wake up to.

  8. Thank you. Much of the world is feeling traumatised and disappointed this morning.
    This reminder of beauty and that life does indeed go on is VERY welcome.

  9. I’m glad you posted these pictures of the red tail. They are really great images of a beautiful bird. It lightened my heavy heart.

  10. Your posting this morning is exactly the right medicine. Another four years of insufferable coarse pettiness will only be a bit more tolerable if we have places like this to go to regularly for solace.

    As for the cataract business I can say by way of encouragement that my experience with that procedure (I had both removed on the same day in late November of last year) was 100% positive. Within less than 8 hours post-op I was seeing the world as I had been 70 years ago. I still need a set of corrective lenses with a small amount of near distance correction but for everything else I am very nearly good as new. I didn’t think your photos could get much better but I am betting fixing that bum eye lens will up your game.

  11. Mary Mayshark-Stavely

    Such a beautiful series! Here in the Eastern forest land, it’s especially fun to see… come visit some time!

  12. Sorry you did not like the out come of the election. I did enjoy seeing the shots of the Red Tail. They are darn nice. Had a cold,windy and snow filled night here in the Northern part of the States. Just glad the sun is out and some blue sky.

  13. Thank you, Ron. Your post this morning is one of a few things I’ve read from friends and family that is helping me to remain calm and grateful for what I have. At this point in my life I welcome any ray of sunshine, and sweet birdsong, any kindness from another being. May your day be brightened, too.

  14. Thank you for posting today, Ron. I needed some sense of normalcy. 💜 And the pooping butt shot is the perfect symbol.

    We get to start the 10-day countdown to your clearer vision today, so that’s a piece of good news. 😃

    My cousin sent out the following this morning: if the world 🌎 didn’t suck, we’d all fall off. 😉

  15. Love your hawk posts Ron! And here’s a toast to Freedom. This is the best country in the world 🙂

  16. Thanks for posting today. You are right on both counts – I needed a distraction, and a reminder that life does go on. And the slight ‘scat’ theme (assuming that’s what the coffee was referencing, too…) just happens to be a perfect fit for my mood.

  17. Everett F Sanborn

    Excellent series Ron. Remarkable how often the birds do take off after a poop. I am laughing too about the word poop. I am almost 87 and growing up in a very proper family I was scolded if I ever used the word. We can thank Dr. Oz when he did his TV show for bringing poop out into the open and making it ok to openly talk about it.
    Love young hawks of all kinds and love watching them grow up while often making many mistakes.

    • Everett, my mother would scold us for that one too. Although we were seldom scolded because we didn’t dare use it. Her rubber spatula was always nearby. She rarely used it but just the threat of it was enough.

  18. Thank you for posting this dismal morning and reminding me that nature will continue to offer solace. The young hawk is beautiful!

  19. Ron– I’ve taken the liberty of sending something to your personal
    e-mail address which I hope will steer your mind away from
    disaster and back to something more wholesome……I hope you won’t mind, and it might prove a positive change of focus for a very tough day.

  20. Our lives and the lives of all beings we share space and time with will feel the effects of this turn. We must savor all the beauty possible. Thank you for this precious RTH this morning.

  21. Count me among the disappointed and traumatized.

    Thanks for the Red-tailed photos. They are a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

  22. If photos are worth a thousand words, this morning that poop shot is worth a million. Thanks for sharing all the wonderful photos of this red-tail. Needed something to make me smile.

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