Continuing to wade through my archives, I came across this shot of a Red-shouldered Hawk taken in 2013. We found him in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida.
I think I'll use this post to kick off a "birds from the archives" series.
Tags: red-shouldered hawk Buteo lineatus raptor bird of prey cornell lab audubon birds florida birding big cypress preserve nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife
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A Swainson's Hawk prepares for takeoff on the grasslands of northern Montana.
Tags: swainson's hawk montana birding wildlife of the west bird of prey raptor cornell lab audubon birds conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife
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A Bald Eagle perched on a muskrat lodge in Loes Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge. A windy day at the refuge.
This is my ninth bird post in a row. Pretty sure that's a new record for me.
Tomorrow I'll start a series of not birds.
Tags: bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus raptor bird of prey loess bluffs national wildlife refuge get your goose on missouri birding nature conservation U.S. national bird protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife protect wetlands
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The eighth and final species I was able to photograph during our western South Dakota is this Ferruginous Hawk.
My wife and I were hanging out in the four-wheel rolling rental blind on the edge of a prairie dog town, in Badlands National Park and I was hoping to capture a jump yip. Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of that story.
Suddenly the prairie dog alarm system kicked into high gear, and we heard multiple high pitched alarm vocalizations nearly simultaneously. Every prairie dog in sight was below ground in their burrows in a matter of a couple of seconds.
Then this Hawk flashed across the town just a few feet above the ground. When it landed, I wasn’t sure if it had nailed a prairie dog or not. I aimed the 500mm lens at him/her and waited. After about a minute, the hawk launched with empty talons. A miss. I started my burst in time to get the actual liftoff but its nictating membrane obscured the eye, so that one didn’t make the cut. This was a couple of frames later.
This was the first time I witnessed a full-blown red alert in a prairie dog town, and I was very impressed with how effective it was. A remarkable nature experience.
I’d like a little more detail on this hawk, but it was taken at quite distance…so this is what I got.
Tags: hawk bird in flight raptor badlands birds audubon birds birdshare cornell lab nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife Ferruginous Hawk
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Another image from the digital foot locker. We found this golden eagle dining on a roadkill jackrabbit near Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. We watched as he dragged it a few feet into the brush and chowed down.
Tags: golden eagle raptor bird of prey Aquila chrysaetos cornell lab Audubon magazine nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife
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