I was mowing my lawn a couple of nights ago when a pair of hawks swooped by about 20’ away and only 5’ or 6’ above the ground and then flew up high in the trees across the street. A few minutes later one landed on the telephone cable about 16’ off the ground just across the street. I killed the mower and moved in for a better look. Whatever type it was I had never seen it before. I ran to house and got my wife. We both admired this beautiful bird of prey. The I thought, “you don’t suppose it would stay there long enough for me to run into house change the lens and get some shots.” Well, the hawk stayed. The longest glass I have is the mediocre EF 75-300 mm. I knew I had to get close so I got right up to edge of the street.
The hawk stayed on this perch for about 7 minutes! I have been wrong about hawk ID. The hawk took off and landed again on the same cable about 200’ down the street facing the opposite direction. Ahh, It was a immature Red Shouldered Hawk.
We have other species of hawks around but, they are usually flying high or perching very high in the trees. Any ID is all but impossible with the naked eye. Once I saw one fairly close and it looked like a Broad-Winged Hawk.
Canon T6, EF 75-300 IS USM.