An Unexpected Visitor Comes Flying In

Monday afternoon while out at the Celery Bog I was watching my red-shouldered hawk friend. I heard a commotion in the woods and looked over to see a red-tailed hawk trying to get some food. It quickly perched on a branch out of range for a really good photo. I started walking over that way anyway just in case something happened. As I was walking the hawk flew towards me and landed on a branch not too far away from me. I don’t often get to get this close to a red-tailed hawk so this was a cool encounter.

Taking What You Can Get

While the hawk was nearly above me I made some portraits of it perched and waiting. These are never the best photos, but when you rarely get this close to a bird you take what you can get.

The Take Off

The hawk finally saw the other hawk not too far away and took off to scare it away. These two played around for a while trying to find the best spot for a meal. The red-tailed hawk being a little bigger always seemed to win. This was an unexpected encounter and part of what makes heading out to the Celery Bog so much fun. You never know what you are going to find.

The Catch

The day after I made all of these photos I found a red-tailed hawk on the floor of the woods acting weird. I quickly realized that it was hiding something with its tail from me. That something must have been tasty because as I walked back by it I could see the blood around its beak. Nature is a cruel thing, and what we make photos of one day could be lunch the next day.