As you can see from the pictures, the weather here in northern Mississippi was fantastic this weekend. We were out all weekend snapping pictures both days and we landed some great shots. Yesterday with the incredible surprise of the Wood Ducks, which by the way, they were back at the small pond again today…hopefully they are making a home there and we will get a chance to see some Wood Duck babies.
But, onto to today’s subject: the Red Shouldered Hawk. What a beautiful raptor! Coming in just a slightly smaller than his cousin the Red Tailed Hawk which he is often mistaken for, he is nonetheless an equal force to be reckoned with if you are a small animal or rodent. We were actually fortunate enough to be around 3 of them all at the same time. My guess is that it is mating season and 2 males were vying over one female. After about five to ten minutes one of the males (I’m guessing) gave up and flew off, leaving the other two which landed up in the tree – as you see above.
I was able to capture a few really good close up shots of this beauty while he was sitting and calling to his sweetheart, which was resting in a nearby tree. In the pictures above, especially the featured photograph at the top, you get a real close up of him screeching away. I only wish I was tech savvy enough to embed an audio clip of all the calling he was doing.
My favorite shot is the close up of the whole hawk. You can see the detail of his perfect seeing eye, his beak that is able to tear chunks of flesh apart with a single “snatch”, and his talons which are perfectly designed tools. I guarantee that once he has those around you, you are not getting away until he makes the decision to release.
What a majestic bird indeed. Be sure to complete the routine and press the “Like” button below, and if you haven’t already pressed the “Follow” button, please take a moment and click that as well. We’ve picked up a couple new countries this past week, welcome to my new Croatia, Mauritius, and Israel viewers and followers.
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RM Goldsmith Photography 