Red-tailed Hawk With Prey

I photographed this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning near Farmington Bay as it prepared to eat a vole it had just caught.

Note: Fair warning – the second photo in this sequence is slightly graphic so sensitive folks may want to avoid scrolling further than the first image.

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Fighting Red-tailed Hawks

Two days ago this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hunting from a sign post and everything seemed to be calm – to the point that I was enjoying the sunflowers in the setting and the irony of the sign it was perched on. That tranquility didn’t last long…

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Landing Red-tailed Hawk

This image goes back into my archives about as far back as they go. It was taken on October 1, 2007 – just a few months after I became serious about my photography. I was still shooting with my first digital camera, the Canon Rebel XTi which I still have. It’s an entry-level camera and I still remember what the camera salesman said when I told him that I was planning on mounting that small camera onto a huge Canon 500 mm lens – “well, it will work but don’t you think it’ll look a little silly?”

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Shrike Sneak-attack On A Red-tailed Hawk

Believe it or not it was at that moment that a Loggerhead Shrike with a chip on its shoulder swooped in out of nowhere to harass the hawk. Because I was ready for it I was able to get two shots with both birds in the frame. In this first one I don’t believe the hawk yet knows the shrike is there.

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Red-tailed Hawk Attacked By A Swainson’s Hawk

The Centennial Valley had one more surprise in store as we left for home last Thursday morning. Photographing birds and other wildlife along the 27 mile long dirt road while I’m pulling the camping trailer is always awkward but the road is typically deserted that time of day and we’ve come up with something special more than once on the way out.

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