Hawk

[BLeafe]

Another busy photo day with Hammy.


I got this cute video of him this morning. I was not in the bedroom, so it wasn't me that he appears to be looking at. My guess is he was looking at his reflection in the window:


<a href="http://img706.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=M1hu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://img706.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=M1hu</a>





I think Hammy was the bloody diner yesterday.  My evidence?

We start with this shot of him today on his favorite perch - my bedroom A/C. I'm sticking my camera out of my living room window. As long as I don't stick my head out, he seems OK with it.









On closer inspection, I notice some red on his left foot (look at those talons scratches on the A/C!):








Then I noticed small red spots in his feathers and a crimson upper beak:









"Your point?" he asked:









"You didn't even take a shower after the bloodfest?"


"How DARE you!" he screamed:









"I don't have to take this crap..............I'm outta here!"







.

[BLeafe]

I'm getting more daring. I took some shots of Hammy today by repeatedly sticking my hand and camera out of my living room window, which is about 8 feet from him.

I'm hoping what he sees bears no resemblance to anything that he considers tasty, but from his expression in this picture, I might have to rethink this.

He's got that zeroing-in, "you're mine" look. "You're mine" might normally be nice to hear on Valentines Day, but not from a hungry carnivore with talons and a still-bloody beak.

[BLeafe]

With regard to his recent pigout on the van, this is a pretty interesting parallel story:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110220_City_s_new_pastime__Talon_shows.html

I guess this means that Meals On Wheels for raptors is going national.


Back home, Hammy's not offering me a lot in the way of photographic variety. I'm shooting less instead of repeating the same shots over and over. He needs to work on some different facial expressions and maybe sport some new outfits.

Meanwhile, I'm scraping for new camera angles:

1. This is underneath from the rear courtyard.

2. I realized I could also get a little above him. My living room picture window has two horizontally-sliding end windows that go up almost to the ceiling, so I could stand on its inside sitting ledge and aim downward.

3. I went out on the other side of the roof and got a shot that condenses my 3 east-facing windows: from near to far, you can see the living room window, the bedroom A/C window indentation and the other bedroom window indentation.

[BLeafe]

I took this shot this morning.

I think he's getting used to me sticking my camera out the window. Before, he looked threatened - now, it's just an over-the-shoulder glance.

[BLeafe]

Hammy showed up today in the late afternoon after the rain stopped. I wonder where hawks go when it rains...........probably not the mall or a bar because he looked kinda damp.

At first, I thought he was sitting with his tail doubled-up under him, but a closeup shows he had some tree bark. I thought maybe this was an initial sign of nesting instinct, but from what I've read, redtails build nests with a mate. I'm guessing that his talons ripped off loose, wet bark when he left the last tree he was on and it stuck.

Whatever - he didn't leave it on the A/C when he took flight again.

A few minutes later, I saw him flying around the neighborhood, gliding effortlessly in the stiff wind. It was the first time I saw him doing that and it was majestically impressive.

Unfortunately, by the time I got the camera, he was gone.

[BLeafe]

I'm guessing the crimson upper lip is probably not cherry pie.

[BLeafe]

Until someone puts a 7-story crane in the parking lot, this is the last angle available to me:


<a href="http://img577.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=M4ix" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://img577.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=M4ix</a>

[hankmc]

Your photos of the Red Tail Hawk are amazing.

I live in Paramus and there are a pair of Red Tails who cruise around the wooded area behind my house, I feel fortunate when I get an occasional  mediocre zoom shot of one of them roosting in a tree.  Thank you, Hank.

[BLeafe]

THanks!

[BLeafe]

After taking off for a 3-day weekend, Hammy was at his usual post when I got up this morning, so I took some pictures right away.

Remember when I said I needed some variety from him, like a new outfit or something? I think he heard me because today he was sporting a glamorous feathery beak boa in white.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Hammy Ga-Ga!















I was so shocked that I didn't notice some schmutz on his beak until after he took off most of the boa. I'm not sure what that was, but I'll bet it had something to do with the boa's owner.















He wouldn't say who that owner was, but I found a clue after he left. It was probably this guy:









.

[hankmc]

you are providing National Geo quality pictures of your subject..great stuff.

We have seen "our hawk" dive down and take a dove in an explosion of feathers close to the back door, one second he was there and then it was just a few feathers indicating something had happened. Another time one of them grabbed a squirrel and held it in it's talons until it was dead, he then did a series of short flights to get it to the nest since the squirrel was probably equal to the body weight of the hawk.   

[BLeafe]

Hammy gets published in the Hackensack Riverkeeper newsletter, but is upstaged by the mayor!

My bedroom A/C morphs into a penthouse balcony!

Film at 11!


(click to enlarge)

[hankmc]

"My bedroom A/C morphs into a penthouse balcony!"

The power of the press.

[BLeafe]

Hammy sightings are few and far between these days. He hasn't hung out on the A/C since early March. Occasionally, I'll see him flying around the neighborhood, but too far away for photos.

Today, I saw him fly to a tree on the SE corner of the E lot, so I went out to get some pictures.

When I got to the tree, there were TWO redtails there. The second one had very dark eyes, so it was a mature bird. It was also a bit bigger than Hammy, so it may have been a female.

Is Hammy hooking up with a cougar?

[Editor]

Go Hammy!