Juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk on the ground June 26, 2010

Carol and I were treated to the youngest red-tailed hawk landing on the ground. He was playing, eating bugs and then flew straight at Carol to cross the road. I yelled duck and she didn't move. She had this look of happiness and wonder (I know weird eh) that the hawk had come so close and she could feel him pass her.



Eating a bug

"Hooligan" learned a lesson this morning by: Chris McConnell

The hawk I nicknamed "Hooligan" learned a lesson this morning - sometimes prey fights back!

She flew and landed hard on something just a few feet from me, and at first the hawk was winning the battle, and even mantled! I was so excited - thought I was witnessing the first successful attempt at hunting and expected to see a moth or some other little victim. Instead I realized as I was happily snapping away that the "prey" was a long strip of tape! She rolled around and started to panic after a bit and then engaged the other talon and looked like she was going to get tangled in it. I could tell it wasn't that sticky - I was more concerned about her somehow getting herself wrapped up...luckily the strip was long enough that I was able to step on one end so that she could step out of the other end without it "attacking" back. Luckily it wasn't very tacky because of the rain, I think the fact that it fought back was what startled her!

The funny thing was that after the incident she immediately looked like she was queen of the world again - not a single feather was ruffled!

To see more of Chris's incredible shots check out the link here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismcc_pics/

Thanks Chris for taking care of the hawks. Photo credit to Chris McConnell - volunteer for the Toronto Wildlife Centre and a fantastic photographer.