Mating Red-tailed Hawks

The Landing

Once again I took a drive along the runways at EPCAL.  A light morph Rough-legged Hawk and and couple Harriers were spotted (as expected) and right as I was about to leave I saw a hawk sitting on a nest book.  I looked through my camera to confirm my belief that it was a Red-tailed Hawk perched atop the box (just as one was on March 1st of this year), but this time there was another Hawk in the immediate area.  I had my camera ready as I expected one hawk to scare off the other - but instead it landed on top of the bird and appeared to copulate.  I apologize for the poor quality of the images, but the birds were approximately 650 feet away!  Either way it was cool to see as it happened in just a few seconds and then the male took off to the woods.  Hopefully there will be young red-tailed hawks (and other raptor species) in the near future.

Finishing the Act

And lastly. . . 

See-ya!

For those interested, here is a story from NPR about the California Audubon Society attempting to attract younger members.  An amusing and quick little story (or podcast if you prefer).  It can be accessed here: Birding is exactly what it used to be

And for those looking for an excellent book to read to pass the next few weeks until Spring has truly arrived, pick up Carl Safina's latest title: The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World which starts on Long Island and takes him around the world.  Highly recommended!

Rough-legged Hawk; Light Morph

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 500

This afternoon was filled with sunshine but also wind.  A short trip to EPCAL quickly yielded a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk as well as 2 male Northern Harriers (grey ghosts), 2 juvenile Northern Harriers and 2 Eastern Meadowlarks which are the first of the season that I've seen at the EPCAL property - a sign of spring for sure.  Enjoy.

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 500

And here is the grey ghost which unfortunately was backlit:

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/8, 1/1600s, ISO 500

Learn more about Raptors by picking up Jerry Liguori's latest title Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors

Dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk

Nikon D300s 300 f4 + 1.7X TC, f/7.1, 1/2500s, ISO 800

I made it to EPCAL after work today and worked the Western runway with virtually no birds save for a Northern Harrier along the eastern woodline.  Frustrated and with the window of sunlight quickly closing I headed to the Eastern runway which I have seldom visited.  A gorgeous juvenile Northern Harrier (below) was resting near the runway but was spooked by my approaching vehicle and took off.  Still frustrated in the lack of birds I continued on to the southern end of the runway where I saw a large very dark bird chasing a Northern Harrier which eluded the larger hawk.  The Hawk then turned and flew near my vehicle where I photographed it and assumed it was a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk which I later confirmed by consulting Jerry Liguori's Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight.  Based on Jerry's descriptions, it's almost certain this is a Adult Male roughie which is darker than the female.