Sunday, July 04, 2010

Red-Tailed Hawk Soars

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Here are two shots of a red-tailed hawk soaring over Monona Woodland Park. OK, I'm guessing it's a Red Hawk based on its size, color, and location (I observed a Red Hawk in the park back in May). Not the greatest photos, but it does demonstrate why keeping the camera handy can come in, uhh, handy. I took these photos on June 16, 2010.

Minnesota DNR web page: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snapshots/birds/redtailedhawk.html

Here is an ornithologist's 1954 report on red-tailed hawks in Wisconsin.

Naturalists out there, please feel free to correct my identification of this bird.



Posted by Doug Wood on 7/04/2010

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousSunday, July 04, 2010

    There's at least one pair nesting near Frostwoods and Midwood. A few weeks ago when local robin eggs were hatching, one was very close and the local robins, jays, grackles and red-wing blackbirds were hassling quite effectively to keep it from harassing the smaller birds. The hawk was VERY close to me...maybe 10 feet away in our yard from me, and gave me a "what did I do?" look. It then flew to a taller tree in the yard, still being chased by the smaller, more aggressive birds.

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  2. Doug WoodSunday, July 04, 2010

    I recently read that smaller birds sometimes use a tactic of keeping the enemy in sight and will fly along very close to the predator bird, like the hawk. It looks funny because several birds and one larger bird will be zigging and zagging - I suppose this goes on until the predator gets either tired or a meal.

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  3. AnonymousMonday, July 05, 2010

    Speaking of flying, did you notice the plane circling the fireworks last night. At one point, the plane pulled up hard like he got closer than he wanted-it was strange.

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