Fast and Fierce
Red-Tailed Hawk
This Red-Tailed Hawk is my favorite bird to photograph. She is an amazing hunter and an expert in flight. Over the last few months I have come to know her well, almost like a kindred spirit. This morning, she flew by me just over my shoulder and rested in a tree not more than ten feet away. Amazing...
Red-tailed Hawks At Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline Park
Queen of the Park
Red-tailed Hawks are a common sight along the California Delta. At Radke Martinez Regional Park, there are two resident red-tails that call this territory home. The female, who is about 25% larger than the male, hunts here on a daily basis and can also be found in the foothills above the Carquinez Strait. The male is rarely seen at the park, usually preferring to hunt in the hills above Martinez, but the two are most likely mates for life.
Red-tailed hawks are expert hunters, swooping down on unsuspecting pigeons, ground squirrels, gophers, field mice and frogs. They also go after blackbirds, starlings and barn swallows.
The female doesn't seem to be bothered by park visitors, or photographers for that matter. I have been photographing her for the last six months or so and she actually puts up with me quite well. I have come to think of her as a kindred spirit.
Beauty in flight
Most Red-tailed Hawks are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon-red above, though in young birds it's brown and banded. “Dark-morph” birds are all chocolate-brown with a warm red tail. (All AboutBirds.Org)
Red-Tailed Hawks
Red-Tailed Hawk at Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline Park
In the grass... this Red-tailed Hawk will hold down its prey until incapacitated, then take it to a perch with a solid platform. Usually a lamp post or a large tree limb.
Morning hunt
Red-tailed Hawk with a bullfrog in its talons.
Red-tailed Hawk in flight
Soaring over the Carquinez Shoreline
Red-Tailed Hawk on the hunt next to the carquinez strait Shoreline
Perfect landing
