Thursday, December 30, 2010

Do my eyes deceive me?

The Tuesday before Christmas I had the day off from work. I was washing dishes and looking out the window over the sink at the tree in the back corner of the yard. I saw what appeared to be a large bird. I watched it for quite some time and it didn't move at all. I began to think my eyes were deceiving me and it must be just a clump of dead leaves. (Have I mentioned that I'm a bit near sighted?)
I grabbed the camera anyway and took a couple pictures then went back to the dishes. I kept looking up at the tree and suddenly the shape moved. IT IS A BIRD! I grabbed the camera again and started snapping like crazy. I went out the back door and took some more shots, moved a few steps closer and shot again. I kept doing that until it finally flew away.
Now I know for sure that this is a hawk but what kind I'm not certain of. I thought perhaps a sharp shinned hawk but I'm not sure.

26 comments:

Rick (Ratty) said...

Ooh! I like him! He does appear to be the kind of hawk you guessed. That is such an excellent picture.

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

Well, my guess is an immature Cooper's Hawk. Lack of streaking on breast, wide white stripe at end of tail, very white belly.

At any rate... this is AWESOME. Thanks for sharing.

Out on the prairie said...

Very nice indeed, it probably is scouting around your feeder. They often come back at similar times, but this is a great closeup.

Sheri said...

You got a great shot of it! It does look like a Cooper's Hawk. I say that because of the striped tail feathers. What a nice visitor to you yard!

Doris Sturm said...

Oh, what a great photo - I love hawks! We have lots of them here, only this winter, I've not seen that many...we have red shouldered hawks and they get pretty daring, sitting in the grass and once it was outside on the bushes...I love them! They are so majestic and regal looking, like all raptors.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love meeting new friends.

Have a happy New Year. (I'll be back!)

livintheblues said...

good guess on the hawk Anne..quick withe camera as well..:)

Ginny Hartzler said...

Aow! We have a lot of hawks around here, but I've never gotten a picture of a hawk yet!! Sorry I don't know what kind it is.

Donna said...

Yes, it looks like a sharp shinned hawk to me! Great capture. Look at the intensity of those eyes! He's looking for a take-out dinner, LOL.

Reeni said...

Cool!! Great shot!

Sandee said...

Great shot, but he's trolling for dinner at your bird feeders. It's what they do. We have a sparrow hawk that sits on our back fence now and then and he's a beauty too.

Have a terrific day. My very best to Duke. :)

BeadedTail said...

Hawks are such gorgeous birds! You got a great photo of him. Good thing you were doing dishes when he decided to sit there!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant colors on that photo

Char said...

Great catch!

Julie Harward said...

What a beauty, I always feel so blessed when I spy one way up looking all around. :D

Duni said...

Great shot! That is a beautiful bird.

Russ said...

Great shot indeed Ann.We have a lot of hawks around here. They won't get close enough for a picture however.

Unknown said...

Just sent a friend to do some reconnaissance. There is nothing to be worried about. Of course, I am still processing the data...

Catherine said...

What a beautiful bird ~ and what a surprise to have this little bit of nature sitting right outside your kitchen window. Wonderful!
xo Catherine

allotments4you said...

I got the Hawk bit for myself but thats as far as my expertise goes. It certainly is a beautiful bird.

MadSnapper said...

it is really a thrill to see one of these hawks, we have many hawks, eagles and osprey all predators and so beautiful like this one. glad you capture him for us

lKaren said...

That is awesome. How lucky you were to catch a great photo.

Audrey said...

Great photo!! You must have a really great zoom on your camera. We have hawks and eagles here sometimes, but I can never get a photo.

tahtimbo said...

That's an awesome photo! I took one of a sharpshin hawk (I don't know i I spelled it right) that was perched on our fence. He stayed there for well over 30 minutes...just looking around. I'll try and post it tomorrow.
Sorry for being absent lately, I was busy reading and also doing research for a project I'm doing.

Ann said...

Ratty, thanks. I felt like I was on one of your adventures with this one :)

Sharkbytes you are most welcome and thanks for your ID. I'm still new at identifying these guys

out on the prairie when I was looking for what kind of hawk he was I did see a description that stated they liked to hang out at feeders, but not for the seed :)

sheri thanks, guess you and joan are in agreement on this one

Doris they are majestic and regal and I'm just in awe of them. I enjoyed visiting your blog. I'll be back over there too :)

livintheblues I can't believe it stayed there long enough for me to get the pictures

ginny this is the first shot I've gotten and I was thrilled to death

donna he is quite intense there. It was amazing to me how long he sat there so still without moving a bit

reeni thanks

sandee I know what he's looking for I'm just glad I didn't have to actually witness him accomplishing his goal...lol

beaded tail they sure are. who would have thought that doing dishes would pay off in such a big way that day

grace thanks

char thanks, I wonder if the hawk ever got his catch

julie me too. I'm always so amazed when I see them soaring through the sky

duni thanks and yes it sure is

russ this is the first time I've seen one this close.

fishhawk ya know, when I was posting this I almost put a note at the bottom about this possibly being somehow connected to you

catherine tell me about it. I was so excited when I realized what it was

allotments4you I couldn't go any further than hawk either so I had to google hawks and see if I could get a more accurate ID

sandra a friend has said that there are eagles nest not far from here and just up the block there were a couple eagles on the ground locked together. It was just my luck I was at work while that was happening. I would have loved to have gotten shots of that

IKaren I felt very lucky to get the shot

Audrey I used my old point and shoot and really I was still not real close with the zoom. I actually cropped this quite a bit to just get the bird. I was glad it came out as clear as it did

tahtimbo I think this one had been sitting there for quite some time also. I don't blame you one bit for taking advantage of the time you had to read. No apologies necessary

Tammy said...

Wow what a wonderful shot of a beautiful hawk. We have a lot of state land by our house and there are tons of hawks around but I have never been able to get such a great picture of one.

Ann said...

b boys mom thanks, I've been seeing a lot of them but none right here in the yard. I'm usually driving when I spot them.

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