2 of our red shouldered hawks in the pecan grove today. Can you find them both?



Last evening just before dark we had just sat down on the front porch when a hummer came up to the feeder hanging there & hovered for a second before darting off. First hummer sighting of the year. I don't know if it's one of our regulars who has come back for the season or just a migrant heading for points north.

Ann - That is a neat photo! I could find both birds! Lovely area you live in. Looks like you might have some rolling hills up your way!

Thank you Beckie! We sure do have rolling hills & I am just loving them!

Stunning, Ann! The bottom hawk sure blends in well! Wish I could get a good picture like that. I'll keep trying!

My husband saw a butterfly today. First one this year, so I'm expecting the hummers to show up before too long. I saw the first of each on the same day last year, but it wasn't this early. I think I'll fill a feeder, just in case.

Thanks Natty! Sure goes to show how much variation there can be in the red shouldered hawks. That bottom one had been on the ground just before it flew up there & perched. They are super active right now. I've seen them zooming all over the place every time I pass a window or step outside for the past 2 weeks. They keep mating too. This is a good thing! Go hawks!

Go Hawks!

Ann, what a reat photo of those two Red-shouldered Hawks ... and such a pretty setting! How cool to have them nesting nearby; I hope you see some babies in the near future!

Ann, love the red-shouldered hawk picture. I've been seeing a pair in the woods behind my house, but they never come close enough and never together. I only got that picture of the one I posted awhile back. Yours is a great shot!

Guess I'd better get my hummer feeders out. We usually see them between April 4th and 10th for the first time. Time to switch from suet making to syrup making.

Thank you Lin & Beckie! For the past 2 springs a pair of RS hawks has nested here. I imagine it is the same pair and they are apparently going to do the same this year. They hang out in the tall oaks in the backyard a lot & especially love to perch in a dead one there. There are 4 RS hawks here -- I don't know if 2 are last years babies???? I'm thinking they must be. The RS hawks are here year round but they get super active this time of year.

We have a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks that have lived in the neighborhood for years but only once have I seen them at the same time. They prefer to nest in a dead pine on my neighbor's property. I think the pine got hit by lightning.

Dad saw two hummingbirds checking out my bromeliads today! And then, I went out to pick milkweed for the Monarchs and I saw one of the hummingbirds on my Quesnelia quesneliana (that's a bromeliad) and then it flew up in to the oak tree. They're really hard to get pictures of when you don't have feeders.

They are darn hard to get photos of even when you do have feeders. Melanie, you should get 1 or 2 feeders. I swear these are the best & there are a lot of other folks on here who have this kind too & will vouch for them.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aspe...

You could hang it outside a window - maybe your bedroom window & then you can get good pictures.

I have a feeder right outside my office window, and even though I've taken oodles of pictures, I've never taken a good one. I can move all over the place and it doesn't bother the hummers. Apparently they are camera shy. As soon as they see a camera in my hand, they are out of here! At least I get to watch them often! Maybe this year I'll set up my tripod by the window so that they get used to it.

That's a good idea Natalie. Let them get used to the tripod.

Red-shouldered Hawks must be pretty common in Florida? There is a nesting pair here, too. I think they have been here for a number of years because I started taking photos of them about 7 years ago. They actually come right into my backyard to try to pick off the doves, other birds, and squirrels. There has been a number of squirrels missing their tails, so I often wonder if they escaped a hawk's grasp.

These are some old (4-7 year old) photos, which I may have posted before somewhere here. They are worth posting again because they were taken quite close-up so you can really see the detail of these birds. To get these shots, I was standing only about 10-15 ft. away from them. They stood their ground and were not afraid of me. (I probably SHOULD have been afraid, stupidity is bliss, you know!) They are magnificent birds, IMHO.









Another predator (which is a night predator), is one of my favorite birds .... Eastern Screech Owls. I truly love these little birds. They would hunt in my yard at night for young rats (when I had a rat problem from the dropped bird seed. Ugh!). I haven't seen any in a few years since I eliminated my rat issue by removing all dropped seeds at dusk.

Eastern Screech Owls:

These are really small owls. You can compare their size to my hummingbird shepherd's hook and red sugar water feeder. I later found out that the rat's nest was right below this shepherd's hook under a little resin pond (which has since been removed). :



Close-ups of these owls:



This one is pretty funny because it was on a bird feeder hook looking down at a rat eating seeds under this feeder. The ear tuff feathers for some reason did not show up in the photo. Made the bird's face look really weird! LOL!

Great pictures, Becky! I've found that the Red-Shouldered Hawks can be quite tolerant of people but they get very wary if you look them in the eyes (like most animals). Even when I try to take photos I'll put my head down and tilt the camera up and use the view screen to take the photo. One time I was weeding out by the road, along our fence. One of the hawks came and perched on the fence and just sat there. Well, I was weeding my way toward it, slowly but steadily. I kept wondering how close it would let me get and if he thought I was just some mammal rooting around in the dirt like a hog. I finally got about one full fence section (so eight feet) away and it flew off. I was so surprised it let me get that close, but maybe it did think I was just looking for grubs or something!

Ann - I, too, love the hummzinger feeders. I still have at least 1 hummingbird here. It's an adult male Ruby-throated hummingbird. I fondly named him, "Squeak", because he squeaks at me every time I am out in the yard. He is color-marked on his head and he is molting his feathers, so it looks like he has a mohawk! LOL! There are probably more hummers, than I see at once, hanging around. They will be leaving soon to head north to their breeding grounds. (sigh)

Melanie - You have to wonder what they think of us humans out there digging in the dirt all the time!

The owls I can get close enough to almost reach out and touch. They just sit there. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a baby owl that maybe fell out of it's nest. I had no idea they were so small. It was sitting on the top of one of our lawn chairs and I opened the door to let our dog out. It just sat there. Didn't fly away. I thought it was hurt or something. My dog never even noticed it. So of course, I went back into the house and brought my whole family out to see it, too. It just sat there. It finally flew away after about 15 minutes. We were probably disturbing it's hunt and it gave up waiting on us to leave, so decided to leave instead. They are so darn cute!

Amazing photos, Becky! That second photo of the hawk, where his "fist" is balled up, it looks like he's going to punch you if you get too close! Love the mohawk on Squeak!

Melanie, I would have chickened out long before I got 8 feet away. You are brave!

Cross posted, Becky. What an amazing thing, to be able to get that close to an owl! I had no idea that they would just sit there!

Natalie - "it looks like he's going to punch you if you get too close! " He was not too happy I was watching him. I've heard about Red-shouldered Hawks attacking people on rare occasions if you get too close. Of course, those photos were taken before I was smart enough to know better. Next time I will use my zoom lens! LOL!

Those owls will tolerate you using the flash on your camera. I must have taken a dozen flash photos, at least. Can you imagine how bright that light flashing in it's eyes must have been since they have such keen night vision. It just sat there. Maybe I temporarily blinded it and that's why it didn't fly away immediately.