Wow! A truly WONDERFUL hawk sighting!

[Zenlitened]

Please forgive the gushing tone, but I'm a newbie who just recently moved out of the city. :)

I was looking out my window and saw a VERY large bird atop a tree across the field behind my house. Naturally, I grabbed my binoculars to have a closer look.

The bird was silhouetted, but I could easily see the shape of its body, as well as its head and beak. Pretty certain of what I'm seeing at this point.

Then it leaped into the air and flew a short distance to another branch. Between seeing it in flight and then sitting fully illuminated by the sun -- no doubt!

A VERY large red-tailed hawk -- that tail was unmistakable, splayed out as he coasted to alight on the next branch. The pale underside of the wings, the mottled color of the back. It was really an intimate view of a beautiful, beautiful bird.

Finally he took to the air again, and swooped low across the field, out of view behind a stand of pine trees. I waited a bit to see if he would fly up, but either he was enjoying dinner by that time, or had taken a perch in a tree beyond my line of sight.

*Sigh.* Definitely the highlight of my day. :)



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[oldcoot]

1. Cool!

It is always nice to see a hawk.

[BeFree]

2. Welcome to birding!

May your glasses be filled with the wings of many a specie.

[semillama]

3. had SIX bald eagles in view on Saturday

never seen so many at once, all flying together breifly. mostly juveniles with a couple adults. Later, saw a couple of the juveniles chasing each other over the lake.

[Freebird12004]

4. We spotted a Red-Tail Hawk, yesterday.

He was flying in the same direction that we were driving and the sun was shining brightly on his tail-feathers. It was breathtaking.

Birders will always gush over bird sightings or at least I will! :thumbsup: