Tag Archives: Raptors

Courting Red-shouldered Hawks

January 3, 2018 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

I heard them long before I saw them while I was walking around one of the ponds near the swamp. They have a plaintive whistle that they tend to repeat over and over, and over. I finally spotted them in separate trees about 150 feet (45 meters) apart, casually watching each other. The path I was on went between them.

A pair in this territory raised three chicks last season. I never saw the nest but after the chicks fledged I watched them on training runs through the trees several times.

My path eventually took me closer to the hawk on my left and a slightly different angle.

These are more shots from a grey day in late December. It snowed here all day today basically leaving the greater Charleston area paralyzed so I’m revisiting some skipped images.

Raptor, Wading Birds

Did You See A Hawk?

November 13, 2017 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

I heard several Hawks calling around Magnolia Cemetery but didn’t see any. Sometimes they perch on head stones or in the trees around the pond. Oh well, nothing wrong with getting photos of an Ibis displaying his tree landing talents. I’m guessing he didn’t see the Hawk, either, as he executed a perfect touch down.

He blended right in so I lightened him a little. You can find him in the photo above by following the Ibis’s beak in a straight line left. Below, the Ibis has passed the Hawk.

You can see from the other photos that the Hawk moved only his head, neither intimidated by the Ibis nor thinking he’d make a good meal.

I did spot the Hawk after a few minutes and got a now deleted photo of one wing disappearing over a Magnolia tree.

Raptor

Osprey Catch Of The Day, Part 1

November 13, 2017 Ellen Jennings 6 Comments

I was idly watching some mallards swim across the big pond at Magnolia Cemetery when I heard the splash. By the time I had him sighted he was out of the water.

Osprey often go completely under when they dive. I’m not sure this pond is deep enough for that but he still had to work very hard to get airborne with his catch.

Finally up in the air, the Osprey hung on to the fish with both feet.

A branch hanging over the water provided a perfect lunch spot with a view.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

Black and White, Raptor

Black and White Barred Owl Portrait

October 8, 2017 Ellen Jennings 3 Comments

Barred Owl resting mid day in a sun dappled tree in the forest.

Raptor

Owl in the Forest

October 1, 2017 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

Old-growth swamp forest, to be more precise, and a great home for Barred Owls. Some of the trees here are 1000 plus years old and the water circulating around them provides a perpetual feast for owls.

There are currently two pair of Barred Owls frequenting the boardwalk area maintained by Audubon South Carolina. We heard them calling to each other in the distance throughout our visit and then spotted this one napping.

Dappled lighting through the leaves and the stillness of the owl makes me wonder if we walked past his mate without realizing it.

Beidler Forest sits within the Four Holes Swamp, a 45,000-acre matrix of black water sloughs and lakes, shallow bottomland hardwoods, and deep bald cypress and tupelo gum flats. Four Holes Swamp is also a major tributary of the Edisto River, part of the Charleston area’s famous ACE basin. Over 17,000 of the swamp’s acres are owned by the National Audubon Society and make up what is known as the Francis Beidler Forest.

Audubon Center & Sanctuary at the Francis Beidler Forest, South Carolina, 9/17/2017.

Raptor

A Raptor

September 30, 2017 Ellen Jennings 1 Comment

Small Coopers Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, or maybe a Merlin? Hanging out where a forested area meets an agricultural field, any of them could be at home here.

The features that CornellLab’s All About Birds uses to distinguish the Merlin from the Sharp-shinned Hawk require flight or at least other angles. The Sharp-shinned Hawk has short, rounded wings and a very long tail. The Merlin has sharply pointed wings, a broad chest, and a medium length tail. Then there are the sex and age variations to confuse the ID.

It may come down to the “bluntness” of the face: the Merlin, a falcon, has a blunt face and the hawks are more pointy.

This fellow stayed put even after I took his photo and had moved on.

Raptor

Barred Owl Watching Me

September 23, 2017 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

We often walk around a path where a pair of Barred Owls has been seen regularly since the spring. This was the first time I saw them both. The Owl below was quietly watching us while we photographed his mate in a tree on the other side of the path.

I had stepped aside to let another photographer get a view of the first Owl and was surprised to see and get better shots of Owl number two. There were lots of branches preventing a wider shot but he was closer and the light was a little better. He didn’t stay long and after this over-the-shoulder glance he swooped further out into the trees.

Raptor

Red-tailed Hawk Downtown

September 20, 2017 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

We often walk through the cemetery at Charleston’s Circular Congregational Church when we are in the neighborhood. Filled with trees, it is welcoming to many birds which may be why a Red-tailed Hawk buzzed the area, cruising over my head. He never slowed and I watched his beautiful tail disappear over a wall headed towards Queen Street.

We headed that way too, wondering if he might be perched in a nearby tree. Even better, he was in clear view on the tile roof of one of the old French Quarter homes.

I switched to my long lens and he stayed put while I angled around the front of the building, getting a few views of this temporary king of Queen Street.

Daily life went on below him: post-Irma trash pick up, street repairs, tourists bent on seeing every street but missing the details, a suited business man conducting his business on the phone in the street…nothing seemed to faze him.

Birds, Raptor

Barred Owl Gets Lunch

June 29, 2017 Ellen Jennings 2 Comments

Barred Owl watches the water below.

With little warning the Owl swoops from the branch to the water.

After a small splash around at the base of the tree the Owl emerges…

Yes, he was successful! A fresh water shrimp or some type of crayfish was firmly clasped in the Owl’s beak.

The Owl flew to a safer spot, transferring his catch to his claw, and in no time he had consumed it.

Birds, Juvenile Birds, Wading Birds

Foot Loose Little Blue Herons

June 28, 2017 Ellen Jennings 4 Comments

The juvenile Little Blue Heron are more mobile, but most of them still weren’t flying on this day about a week ago. They are venturing further away from their nests and their feet were in full view.

As I developed these photographs I noticed how many ways they use those feet, often digging their nails in for support or to climb a branch.

Head on shots of birds rarely look like much, but in this one the Little Blue’s feet are nicely lined up and show off how long his nails are.

They don’t need a very big branch to hang on to.

As we were leaving the rookery this adult Little Blue landed above us giving another foot view.