About two years ago, I photographed this immature Red-tailed Hawk resting above a safety zone sign at Farmington Bay WMA on a cold morning.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a safety zone – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
The red and white safety zone sign may not be appealing to some people’s sense of taste, but the young raptor was perched above it, so it didn’t bother me. I was happy to have spotted the hawk, for being able to point it out in time, and for having it in my view finder.
I was close though and I knew that if the Red-tailed Hawk took to the air I’d run the risk of clipping wing tips. So I took off my 1.4x teleconverter which gave me an effective focal length of 750mm instead of 1050mm.
Northern Harrier dive bombing an immature Red-tailed Hawk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited
I’m very glad I removed my teleconverter because of the next thing that happened. A Northern Harrier flew in and dive bombed the perched young Red-tailed Hawk. The immature buteo went into defensive mode and lifted its wings while staring at the harrier.
I wish I would have had a bit more depth of field in this frame to get both raptors in sharp focus but the appearance of the harrier was unexpected. There simply wasn’t time to change my settings.
My focus was on the immature Red-tailed Hawk and the face of that bird says it all to me. When I look at this photo I can almost imagine the young hawk saying “Dude, can’t ya read? This is a safety zone!” to the intruding Northern Harrier. And yes, that makes me laugh.
Immature Red-tailed Hawk in a safety zone – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light, not baited
The defensive posture of the immature Red-tailed Hawk did seem to convince the Northern Harrier from carrying out a repeat attack because it flew away. Not long after the dive bombing harrier took off the young Red-tailed Hawk lifted off and left the safety zone.
I’m not sure why I never processed these photos before but I thought today was as good a time as any for them to be shared.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Red-tailed Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.
Pensive, defensive and thoughtful…the three faces of survival in the wild. Great pics. Thanks Mia.
Wonderful shots. We’ve been seeing another immature redtail hanging around there this fall. Clearly, the redtail had not gotten the memo that those posts belong to the harriers.
Those were fun!
Great shot. Love the irony.
What a totally delightful series. I am so glad that you shared them. And yes, that expression is priceless.