Confessions of a Hawkarazzi

One of the cool things about the building where I work is that it is near a woods and a big open field where a pair of red-tailed hawks are frequently seen. At least one morning per week, sometimes more often, I see one of them sitting on one of the street lights along the exit to my building.

Wednesday morning, I was doubly blessed. As I came down my exit, I saw one of the hawks sitting on a street light. There was nowhere to stop or pull over, alas. As I continued on through my exit, I saw a SECOND red-tailed hawk sitting on another street light!

When I saw the second hawk, I noted a safe place to pull the car over. So I did. I stopped the car and focused my camera on the hawk but it turned and faced away from me. Then it flew away!

Not one easily deterred, I followed the hawk. And it flew to yet another street light . . . where the other hawk was somehow magically waiting. (I presume there are just the TWO of them; however, I guess there is some possibility there are THREE.)

How I would have loved to have gotten a shot of the two hawks sitting on their street light, snug as a pair of love birds! It is something I have never seen before. And these birds are huge. So the sight of not just one but TWO of them side by side is quite impressive!

As I got closer, the one bird instantly flew away. I got a few shots of the one that remained, none of them very clear, but I admit I was disappointed at missing the two-hawk shot.

These are the same birds, by the way, that on a separate occasion motivated me to crawl out through my car's sun roof to snag a few shots. (If you're the driver, it's best to STOP the car before attempting such a maneuver, of course!) So we have a history, these birds and me. I try to photograph them: they resist! Makes me feel like some kind of hawkarazzi . . .

And so I put in my work day. But then, as I was leaving my building that afternoon, guess who was sitting on the closest street light! You got it: one of the red-tailed hawks! I pulled over and photographed it through the windshield. The hawk turned and looked directly at me; even seemed to pose for the camera!

Ah, my beauty, long-pursued, I get to blip you at last!

P.S. Hawk lovers may also enjoy these other two hawk blips: my February 8 "red-tailed hawk" shot taken at Gray's Cemetery, and my October 3 "that looks like a tasty morsel" shot taken at Millbrook Marsh.