Our resident Red-shouldered Hawk decided he was tired of sitting in the tree waiting for an unsuspecting meal to fly by, so he went directly to the source for a little fast-food takeout. Apparently word got out that the local "McTitmouse" was under surveillance, so our backyard birds went somewhere else for dinner...
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| A Red-shouldered Hawk perches on our platform feeder. The Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Chickadees, Titmice, Carolina Wrens, woodpeckers, and Northern Cardinals that usually dine there were not amused. They fled for safer ground. |
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| ...the shutter clicked in time to catch his nictitating membrane covering his eye. |
If you want to see a nictitating membrane in action,
click here to go to a video that shows it covering the eye in slow motion. It's cool to watch because the membrane closes horizontally from the medial corner to the lateral corner, not vertically like our eye lid.
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| Uh ohhh....he hears my camera click, and now he's not amused. |
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| Our Red-shouldered Hawk sat on the feeder for a while, to no avail. He eventually flew off to find his dinner elsewhere. |
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11 comments:
It appears he didn't get his order at your "fly through" restaurant! Beautiful images. He sure looks cold!
He's a beauty! So fat and fluffy looking. I guess that's his winter plumage. Looks so different than the Red Shouldered Hawks I see out here in S CA.
Nice one Kelly. That old boy doesn't look happy about the lack of food choices. Just glad I'm higher on the food chain
I love it! He looks like Randy from A Christmas Story all puffed up like that.
Ah. That moment one realises that instead of the constant tweeting of small birds there is a deafening silence. A great photo opportunity. Lovely close shots.
Hi Lois! Thank you! It was cold...it is cold...not use to the single digits!!
Hi Spare Parts! I was in southern Florida and saw one that was very pale....gray head and light bars on the chest...are yours like that?
Hi Curg! Hahaha...yep...so true!
Hi Kick...Hahaha! (it was his only defense!)
Hi John...that is definitely what happened....complete silence! Thank you!
Nice photos - such a pretty hawk he is.
Ah, I was so happy when I got an email telling me that you had a new blog post!! And even though it was short, this made it totally worth it: McTitmouse!!! Good one, Kel. :)
He looks a bit overweight Kelly especially feasting at the restaurant of "the Golden Arches," have a great 2018. :)
Hi Kelly,
Such a beautiful bird.
Yep, that will do it, flee to safer grounds.
Hi Sandy...thank you!! He is a good looking fella!
Hi Kim! I'm working on getting back in the swing of things. I can't wait to get out and get more bird photos. My poor blog suffered this past year!!!
Hi Roy! Hahaha! So true! ......plus....it was probably about 2 degrees then....or maybe -3. That was one of our coldest days and he was fluffed up to the max!
Hi Tammie! :-) I'd do the same! :-)
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