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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Red-Tailed Hawk: Winter's Magesty of the Sky!

All photos by Barrie Lynn Totten Wood
When I was about six years old in rural Connecticut I knew the red-tailed hawk as the "chicken hawk". And it was not a rare sight to see one  draped on a fence to warn other bad hawks to stay away! And why not, for predators of all sorts were evil and deserved to die! But even back then, thanks to my biology professor dad, I knew that was wrong.  Much has changed. Red tails, like all our birds of prey, are now  fully protected by State and Federal Law for our human centered view of the ways of nature has morphed  into a vision based on science and the roles of predators.  Hawks are predators, magnificant ones at that.  And in winter, in Michigan, viewing can be spectacular, be it a blur of an image  along the edges of I-75 or in the case of these photos, graciously shared with me by my neighbor/rancher/ friend  Barrie Lynn  Totten Wood, owner of Benchmark Alpacas at the Tin Roof Ranch (http://www.benchmarkalpacas.com/), in a rural setting.
 Her photos make the word chicken hawk and  images of dead ones on fences light years away.
  But I have never forgotten.  

   
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    Those are great photos!! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. LauriePFebruary 4, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    Thanks for the pictures. I saw this hawk in my backyard this morning--I think I startled him and he flew into the bare trees. I didn't know what kind of hawk I was seeing until I came upon your pictures--that is exactly what I saw with the beautiful chunky body and whiteish tail.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 9, 2011 at 11:12 AM

    I live on a farm two miles outside of Coopersville, MI. We are so lucky to have a pair of these awsome birds of the sky gracing our pressence. In the winter time it is especially great to witness these great birds in flight and/or just on a restfull stance or maybe just taking a break it seems.
    Sometimes I like to take a slow and distant drive into the further outskits of town and catch one down by the riverside or in an open field soaring high above seaching for its next meal. At this point I slow the vehicle down to take a mental video of the creature I hope to become in my next life.......

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