We knew it was around, based on that picture that Chris McLean took on-site and forwarded to us (see Red-shouldered Hawk!, posted back on September 1). But until now we’d never obtained a picture with the birdcam.
I was chatting in CONE Welder the other day about how sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Well, give new user abirch credit for a nice helping of beginner’s luck, because this afternoon at 4:43 p.m. he or she got the first official shot in the game of the Red-shouldered Hawk:
Two seconds later, loughman1 got this shot, which shows the bird’s eye a little better:
I think what we’re seeing here is a Red-shouldered Hawk that has dropped from a hunting perch, probably onto one of those rodents that like to hang out under the feeders. It looks like the bird is on the ground, facing toward our right, with its wings spread out.
Congratulations abirch and loughman1 on these really cool shots of a really spectacular bird! Now we just need to get a shot that shows the whole bird. 🙂