Red-Tailed Hawks prefer a high perch from which they can swoop down and catch their prey. Highways provide good hunting along the shoulders and the median strip. Power lines and poles provide excellent perches. Yesterday, my wife Diane and I went on a Sunday drive looking for Red-Tailed Hawks. We didn't have to go far since a 4-lane highway is only 1/2 mile from our house. We saw at least 4 of them in the first 3 miles. Now you can drive by a perched Red-Tailed Hawk and he/she will never move. Well, just try stopping and snapping their photo. They sense danger and they swoop off to the next pole. So my wife would drive and spot and pull over on the shoulder and I would try and get a shot. We weren't having much luck until we were near the local airport and we discovered that one the birds was a pretty good sport. He would let me get a picture, fly a short distance to another perch, then let me get another shot. He even treated us by jumping off his perch and grabbing a meadow vole for Sunday dinner. Because his turf is the county airport, my wife named him Sky King (Pale Male was already taken.)
1 comment:
One of the problem in this area with hawks and owls are that they tend to swoop to the center, grassy portion of the 4 lane high ways. In doing so they totally ignore the semi's and frequently hit the top of the truck thus meeting their demise. They have tried different things to keep the hawks as well as deer away from the highways in Missour, but with very little success.
Post a Comment