![\"lichen](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/lichen-covered-rock-6682-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMia and I have been visiting the Centennial Valley for about five years now\u00a0(usually 3-4 times every summer) and at least once each trip, as we passed this lichen-covered rock next to the road, I would\u00a0mention to her how much\u00a0I would like to\u00a0photograph a raptor on one of these red rocks.\u00a0 There’s just something about my\u00a0fondness for each, \u00a0the lichen covered rocks and birds of prey, that has made that kind of photograph a personal goal.\u00a0 But it\u00a0never happened for some reason.\u00a0 The birds of prey just\u00a0don’t seem to perch on them, preferring instead the fence posts, utility poles and\u00a0trees that are usually a\u00a0little too far away from the road.\u00a0 It’s been an unfulfilled goal for a long time.<\/p>\n
But all that changed last week.<\/p>\n
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We found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk that almost seemed like it was glued <\/em>\u00a0to one of those rocks!\u00a0 The rock was next to the road and nothing – cars, cows, big RV’s or two persistent photographers –\u00a0was enough of a bother to the bird to cause it to fly off.\u00a0 Based on the messy bill and slightly distended crop, part of the reason for its\u00a0reluctance to fly\u00a0might have been that it was digesting a recent large meal but even so this hawk was unusually “sticky”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most of the time the tail was hidden from view and there wasn’t much going on.<\/p>\n And then\u00a0the cows showed up…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This part of the valley is largely private land and there are lots of cows.\u00a0 The fences are old and rickety so many of the bovines escape and graze the “virgin” grasses between the gravel road and the fences – and that’s where this rock was.\u00a0 Here a cow (and several others)\u00a0is passing between the rock and the fence, very close to the hawk.\u00a0 The disdainful expression from the bird says it all…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u00a0stoically stood its ground long enough for me to take a few portraits…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n but eventually the bird flew a few feet west to another smaller rock and continued to watch the grazing cattle as they slowly approached once again.\u00a0 This is probably my favorite shot from the session because we can see the entire bird and this rock isn’t so massive.<\/p>\n I believe it was at this point that a calf deliberately ran toward the hawk and chased it off, but again it only flew a few feet…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n and landed on one of the fence posts.\u00a0\u00a0 Here the young\u00a0hawk is watching the cattle as they continue to\u00a0approach from the right.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eventually the cows get so close that the bird has to turn its head the other way to watch them (with obvious distrust).<\/p>\n To me this\u00a0almost\u00a0seemed like a war of wills between the relentlessly approaching cows and the stubborn hawk who seemed determined to stand its ground.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I switched over to another camera and lens to show a better perspective\u00a0of this little mini-drama.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The cows passed by within about 5-6′ of the bird but it didn’t budge – almost as if it was trying to show its disdain for the lumbering, noisy,\u00a0dull-witted animals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n