Wild Life Pictures – Red-Tailed Hawk Michigan

I find that the best times to capture wild life pictures are early in the morning or early evening just before sunset. Interesting lighting effects can introduce striking highlighted effects on bird plumage. See wildlife photo of Red-tailed Hawk full wing spread.

One afternoon basking in the early warm rays of the setting sun, my attention was drawn toward the resident young Red Tailed Hawk born just several weeks earlier. The young Red Tail hawkling had been squawking incessantly for the past several days; it hadn’t quite figured out how to catch it’s own food, I found this to be an opportunity to capture some raw wild life pictures.

For several weeks, the young Red Tail Hawk squawked for it’s mother to come and feed it; you could almost hear… “Feed Me” in all those raspy repetitive calls for momma. On one rather humorous occasion, trying to sneak pass her young offspring, the mother made a mad dash to travel across the wetland from one set of tree tops to the other side of the wetland. She was not quick enough as the young Red Tail hawkling caught a glimps of his mother and ratched up his hunger calls and took off like a bolt of lighting toward her direction to catch up to mother Read Tail; what a set of wild life pictures or video that would make.

Wild Life Pictures – Red Tailed Hawk

As the sun was preparing to make its final lazy descent, the young hawkling made a verticle dive off the branch straight down toward the ground like he had done so many times before only to come up empty handed or discovered after he had flew back to a branch to enjoy a meal, he had only grabbed and returned with a lump of empty grass. Photo of full Red-Tail.

Automatic Knives – Red-tailed Hawk

Not this time; this time the young Red-tailed hawkling had stood his ground, this time he did not bounce around, he did not squawk, he was focused as never before. This aerial predator instincts kicked in, he was up against a super prey that could inflict serious harm if it decided to fight back and resist the aerial attack. He gripped it with all of his might this time and then spread his wings and lifted the prey skyward to get it to a branch for an evening dinner–this group of images became one of my favorite series of wild life pictures.

Wild Life Pictures – Red Tailed Hawk

I was amazed to see that it was not a fierce prey at all; but, rather a small frog.  The way Red-tailed was acting, you would have thought he had caught a rabbit or squirrel or something.

Red-tail was on his way to becoming a true predator, later that same summer, I spotted Red-tail Hawk circling high above in the cloudless blue sky, silent, looking down, ready to fall like a bullet upon unsuspecting prey.

I guess Red Tail learned that silence, not squawking for momma, was the way to survive in the wild life of the wetlands.

As Red Tail Hawk rose with his bounty, I managed to capture a couple of wild life pictures of a young predator in action.

Nature Photograph – The American Indian Red-tail of Nobility – A Tribute

Redtailed Hawk Michigan

Resources:

Migration and Wintering

Michigan Department of Natural Resources 

Whitefish Point Raptor Migration Observatory, learn more… DNR Michigan Res-tailed Raptor Migration

Check the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for Redtailed Hawk Michigan migrations, Learn More… DNR ohio.gov Redtailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk Michigan – Places of Interest

Michigan Huron-Clinton MetroParks

Check out the Michigan Lake Erie official website for park details. Learn More … Lake Erie Metropark

Check out the Michigan Kensington official website for park details. Learn More … Kensington Metropark

Nature Photography by Ike Austin – Birds of Michigan Series
Photography that is Therapy for the Soul 

National Geographic

Editors’ favorite submissions to the 2011 photo contest