There are five recognized subspecies of Red-shouldered Hawks with the Florida Red-shouldered Hawks having the palest heads and plumage. I believe this Red-shouldered Hawk adult is from the Florida race, Buteo lineatus extimus.
Yesterday I headed up Skyline Drive at the entrance to Bountiful Canyon to see if I could find any migrating raptors riding the thermals of the Wasatch Mountain Range and while that wasn't a "bountiful" activity finding a Moose and her calf feeding near a beaver pond was.
I was photographing some Pine Siskins along a road in Madison County, Montana when this male Red-shafted Northern Flicker stuck his head out of his nesting cavity in an aspen and surprised me.
This juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker image was taken on my first camping trip in the high Uintas in Summit County, Utah not far from Christmas Meadows.
Why would a Moose (Alces alces) kiss a Porcupine? I'm really not sure, perhaps this Moose cow was curious about a slow-moving Porcupine on the ground and got a touch too close.
There are many mammals to see at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, I haven't seen them all yet but I hope to one day. On this last trip I saw Moose, Elk, Skunks, Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, Foxes, White-tailed and Mule Deer, Yellow-bellied Marmots, and Pronghorns.
While exploring the area and it's breath taking beauty I spotted a large flock of Pine Siskins feeding on the seedheads of Mule Ears (Wyethia amplexicaulis).
This very cooperative juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was used to the people who frequented Sawgrass County Park and it would land very close to humans.