A week ago, when I posted flying raptors, I included a mediocre shot of a Red-tailed Hawk merely to complete the set of raptors seen that day.
Contrast that with the three shots of a Red-tailed Hawk, below. This bird was recorded en passant while I was up to something else. Nature does not dance to tunes I play.
“Why are you watching me?”
“OK, I’m outta here.”
“Yet, I am sufficiently curious that I will watch you from above.”
Wonderous!
Your raptor shots are fantastic, Alistair. But are you again testing to see if anyone is awake and alert? Because the bird in the third photo is a different individual. I’m confused!
Janice, good eye.
And therein lies a story of a great shot that was, alas, missed. There were, indeed, two hawks. The female was on the snag (first and second shot). A male was perhaps twenty metres away, visible but behind tree branches. He came by and they mated (the missed shot). Then he flew back and forth over me. I assume he was threatening me, but he drifted higher and farther off before I left. She had already flown off.