I had to take these quickly with the little camera, so apologies for the weird lighting effects, a brightly cloudy sky was behind the bird and there wasn't time to play with settings. The bird was annoyed at my rudeness, and took off squawking complaints right after the second shot.
Goodness! That looks bigger than Murphy!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that odd, how they figure out you're looking at them? Even when they're not looking at you, they know.
ReplyDeleteBirds, especially hawks have amazing eyesight. It's so funny that he scolded you as he left. hahaha! Really cute. Thanks for the bird shots. Lovely to see.
ReplyDeleteOh, this hawk was maybe 15-20 feet above me, maybe less, on a very low wire right near where I was standing. I wasn't skulking in the bushes to take this, I was standing on the sidewalk being an annoying paparazzi, standing right near him and talking - "Oh, you are a pretty bird!" and it looked right at me, paused a second so I could get that second shot, then flapped off in noisy annoyance, bitching all the way.
ReplyDeleteAs for size, they're a good sized bird, but not big enough to be a threat to Murphy. I wish the picture had turned out better, the backlit overcast sky was hard to shoot into, and I didn't want to waste too much time annoying the bird.
I should explain that this bird hangs out all the time and I'm usually on my phone while I walk near him, so my talking to him is not at all unusual, he's so used to people he's practically tame. I think it was my pointing that foreign object (the camera) at him that irked him and made him leave.
ReplyDeleteWe've got 2 hawks that visit nearly every day- a Red-Shouldered (Murphy *would* need to worry) that flies down the driveway every day checking out the feeders, and a sparrow hawk. The small birds dive into the yew shrubs and become absolutely still and silent when they are about. I thought that was pretty safe, until yesterday we saw the red-shoulder dive right into the yew- completely hidden - and hop around trying to catch a meal. Then he dove into the next yew. I've never see that before- they usually do a snatch and grab from the air.
ReplyDeleteKimmen
The guy in my picture IS a red shouldered hawk. I wish the colors were true, I'll try again if he lets me. Murphy doesn't have to worry, they are big but not heavy, and couldn't get him off the ground. The Great Horned Owl we had hanging out a few years ago made me nervous, and we do have eagles, but this guy doesn't even glance at dogs, he can't lift 'em.
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