red-tail hawk - wingtip pair
A couple days ago this pair of red-tail hawks spent much of the day dancing in my vicinity. From time to time, I could hear them close while I was working, so I'd grab my camera, go outside and hope they'd fly close enough I could get a decent shot. They weren't real close, but I got pretty lucky a few times, as you can see here.
I assume this is part a spring mating ritual. I'd like to know more about that. I've seen some very interesting behavior repeated a few times. One thing is the outstretched feet while flying close in mid-air. Sometimes they fly with bellies facing each other, and feet out. I've seen one doing a series of climbs and tuck-wing dives (like some guy doing burnouts or spinning donuts in his hotrod to impress a girl) while the other one held steady at a high elevation.
It's a great joy watching these elegant creatures in the sky.
[See also the flare shots of these birds I posted a couple days ago.]
red-tail hawk - wingtip pair
A couple days ago this pair of red-tail hawks spent much of the day dancing in my vicinity. From time to time, I could hear them close while I was working, so I'd grab my camera, go outside and hope they'd fly close enough I could get a decent shot. They weren't real close, but I got pretty lucky a few times, as you can see here.
I assume this is part a spring mating ritual. I'd like to know more about that. I've seen some very interesting behavior repeated a few times. One thing is the outstretched feet while flying close in mid-air. Sometimes they fly with bellies facing each other, and feet out. I've seen one doing a series of climbs and tuck-wing dives (like some guy doing burnouts or spinning donuts in his hotrod to impress a girl) while the other one held steady at a high elevation.
It's a great joy watching these elegant creatures in the sky.
[See also the flare shots of these birds I posted a couple days ago.]