Redtail Hawks & Friends

Redtail Hawk & Friends At Slate Run Metro Park-Columbus, Ohio 1/31/10

My goal was to photograph Norther Harriers this day however that did not happen. For some reason they were absent that morning. However the ever elusive Redtail Hawk, elusive to me anyways, for some reason i have a hard time finding good photo ops of this Raptor. I see many of them just always too far away for a good photo. This particular Redtail Hawk was being harrased by a flock of crows, about 10 to be exact, they just would not leave this hawk alone so he found a tree with alot of snags in it just to keep the crows from attacking, as you will see in one of the photos.

My morning started out around 7am I arrived at the wetlands in the back of the
Slate Run Metro Park at just 10 degrees it was hard getting started, however the sense of adventure kicked in and i threw the clothes on and afield i went. I have a routine of making a circle around the wetlands by heading east towards the first of many ponds on the wetlands. My first encounter was with the Bluebirds at one of the many nest boxes on the property, It appeared they were staking out ownership for the upcoming breeding season. It seemed every box had a pair  planning their futures together.

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As I made my way around the wetlands I noticed i did not see the usual amount of Canada Geese flying as usual, Must have been too cold for them as well, I have a tree i stand by when i am scoping the area for the low flying Northern Harrier’s where they hunt for voles and other little critters they like to eat. I did not spot any Harrier’s I did however hear the geese on the back pond, once the sun came over the horizon the geese started getting active and taking flight. They normally fly north to the main pond in the front of the state park (Buzzard’s Roost Lake) there is usually open water from all the Ducks & Geese that swim to keep it open.

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Once the Geese thinned out I continued my route around the wetlands and noticed a Redtail Hawk in a tree some 600-700 yards away, so i made my way along the west side of the wetlands figuring the hawk would take flight long before i got to it’s location, as is usally the norm for me. I walked slow stopping peridocally to look through the lens and monitor the birds actions I was still about 200 yards away, it was then I noticed the crows planning their attack within about 5 minutes the air strike took place causing the hawk to take flight, at first flying away from me, a sight i am used to seeing, it then turned and came towards me on my west side which is where i needed it to be to have the right light for photographing.
Here are a few shots from that sequence.

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2 Responses to “Redtail Hawks & Friends”

1. BassMasterRG says:

   February 3, 2010 at 10:17 AM

   I love the Chicken Hawks! Awesome job dude!

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2. Alan says:

   March 14, 2010 at 3:35 AM

   Thanks, Glad you liked them Ron

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