My Photo Session with a Red Tailed Hawk
My Photo Session with a Red Tailed Hawk
I hinted the other day about another wildlife encounter we had on our exploration drive.
After we started back down in elevation a little bit, we drove through a rocky area. There were tall pinnacles on the right side of the road, and as I was looking at them I noticed a white spot that didn’t quite blend with everything else. Al stopped the truck, and I grabbed my camera with my telephoto lens. It was a hawk.
We watched him, and he watched us. He wasn’t in the best spot to get photos of him, he was blending pretty good with the background. Then he took off.
I thought for sure that was it, and he was going to fly away. But all he did was fly a short distance to another spot.
A much better spot actually. He was in perfect light, and a nice background. I was able to stay in the truck to photograph him so he didn’t fly away, and Al watched with binoculars.
He stayed there for a long time. Shaking out his feathers.
Preening and grooming.
He jumped up for a second, but came right back down in the same spot. Who was watching who?
More preening. Gotta make sure those feathers are perfect.
Then he took off, circled a little bit, and flew over the hill. This encounter was the highlight of our day.
Another bird entertained us all day, everyday. There was a meadowlark hanging out in the sagebrush by our RV. He sang all the time, I mean all the time. Except at night of course. I wanted to capture his song on a video, so I went out at sunrise and shot the mountains, and recorded his song. This is a little video I put together, I hope you enjoy it.
it’s breathtaking… they are majestic and so beautiful…
what a lovely soundtrack for the day!
THAT, was so cool.
That video with just the sunrise and the song, Mary, you are rockin’ my boat…..
And this hawk. Look at Mister Beautiful! Preening and showing off as such; I bet he knew you were adoring his majesty, his awesome form and grace. LOVE each photo, especially of the one as he’s preening with ONE EYE ON YOU!
LOve.
WOW, Mary, your stunning photos of the hawk and video of the meadowlark singing through sunrise made my day! You have a gift for attracting nature’s messengers!
Wow, wow and wow on that red-tailed hawk! Gorgeous photos! Did you pay him for the photoshoot? LOL!
I adore meadowlarks. Lucky you!
Love the birdsong. And that hawk is gorgeous. We have a hawk that hangs out in our neighbor’s huge eucalyptus tree, and often soars/hunts over the canyon in back of our house. It’s so cool to watch him! Sometimes his girlfriend (wife?) is there too and sometimes an offspring. So great. He’s often being harrassed by the crows. It’s so cool to watch -and sometimes he flies quite close/low by our house because we’re up at the high end of the canyon.
That is a couple of fantastic images, Mary. Quite an event to get a photo session like this with a read tailed hawk.
Hello, awesome captures of the red-tailed hawk. It is a beauty! Love the meadowlark song. Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!
It’s like that hawk was preening and posing just for you! I love watching birds, but most of all I just love listening to their singing.
That’s a sharp eye to spot that guy!! He’s gorgeous.