Beautiful Red Tail Hawk saying hello!

This pretty girl was sitting on a sign on the overpass on the interstate near my work. She let me stop and photograph her. She has the brightest red tail I have seen in awhile.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2.../MsPics011.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l2.../MsPics013.jpg

she's beautiful! I love big birds like those. Don't see them too often here though :(

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

She has the brightest red tail I have seen in awhile.

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You haven't seen Big Gunns when he's been sitting at the computer for a while have you?:D:D

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

You haven't seen Big Gunns when he's been sitting at the computer for a while have you?:D:D

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:O:O:O:O:O too funny!!

beautiful picture! I live out in the desert and we see many hawks..it nevers gets old watching them!!

There was one about a couple of weeks ago on the house accross the street. A friend of mine came over to tell me it had attacked a pigeon mid-air. Well the pigeon (half alive) was in my driveway. Blood EVERYWHERE. The hawk just sat on the house watching us. My child was like what is it mom....nothing nothing....get in the house. I could just see him FREAKING out and wanting to fix the pigeon. He was so bad off at that point there was nothing I could do but go in and wait for the hawk to finish what he was doing. It was crazy though....he would not come back onto the driveway until we closed our blinds. Finally when we did open them...everything was gone....except allot of feathers and blood.

Getting blood off your driveway is A LOT harder than it sounds. Still...they are just amazing creatures!!

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

:O:O:O:O:O too funny!!

beautiful picture! I live out in the desert and we see many hawks..it nevers gets old watching them!!

There was one about a couple of weeks ago on the house accross the street. A friend of mine came over to tell me it had attacked a pigeon mid-air. Well the pigeon (half alive) was in my driveway. Blood EVERYWHERE. The hawk just sat on the house watching us. My child was like what is it mom....nothing nothing....get in the house. I could just see him FREAKING out and wanting to fix the pigeon. He was so bad off at that point there was nothing I could do but go in and wait for the hawk to finish what he was doing. It was crazy though....he would not come back onto the driveway until we closed our blinds. Finally when we did open them...everything was gone....except allot of feathers and blood.

Getting blood off your driveway is A LOT harder than it sounds. Still...they are just amazing creatures!!

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We get them all the time where I live too. All different kinds of raptors. My favorites are the red tails and the kestrals. We had a red tail grab a small rabbit in the backyard once. Where I work there is a pair that are here every day. We also have peregrines here too. There was big release program near here a few years back and now they are everywhere. Its amazing to see how well all the raptors have really come back in force around here.

I just happened to grab my camera today and bring it to work and Im really glad I did or I would have missed that chance :)

That is awesome you got so close.

We also have these...(Im serious) HUGE crows. It is wild...not sure if you have them there?? They are typically bigger than the hawks....more like the size of an eagle. It is really crazy. My husband and I are always amazed...like what the ___ do they eat.

So I take it you are more rural Chicago??

Nice picture of a beautiful girl! We have Perigrine Falcons where I live. Every once in a while I get lucky enough to see one.

beautiful

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

That is awesome you got so close.

We also have these...(Im serious) HUGE crows. It is wild...not sure if you have them there?? They are typically bigger than the hawks....more like the size of an eagle. It is really crazy. My husband and I are always amazed...like what the ___ do they eat.

So I take it you are more rural Chicago??

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I think you're seeing Ravens. Careful, they can be tricksy.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

That is awesome you got so close.

We also have these...(Im serious) HUGE crows. It is wild...not sure if you have them there?? They are typically bigger than the hawks....more like the size of an eagle. It is really crazy. My husband and I are always amazed...like what the ___ do they eat.

So I take it you are more rural Chicago??

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Yeah Im about 30 minutes south of Chicago. My city is considered the biggest suburb of Chicago. We even have our own suburbs lol! Little towns and townships contained within my city. I live by a major mall right off 2 interstates but I have a pack of coyotes living in my suburbian neighborhood. Fox, possums, raccoons, least weasles, minks, etc.. All kinds of wildlife. But we have tons of forest and nature preserves and even a large lake that was turned into a rookery for the cranes, herons and egrets. They built huge nesting platforms all over it for the big birds. Also 4 different major rivers within a 20 mile radius. So yeah its nature heaven here despite all the human population. We have even had sightings of wolves and trumpeter swans here!

Those huge crows are probably ravens. We never use to have ravens here. Only crows. But in the last few years it seems the ravens from the north have been making their way further south and west because I have been seeing them too. They are more than twice the size of the normal crows.

Awesome Hawk!! We see them all the time here in New York.. The coolest bird of prey i've ever seen was a Bald Eagle.. We were white water rafting in the delaware river gap and we looked up into the EXTREMELY high trees and saw a huge Bald Eagle (With a pearl white head, and chocolate brown body) sitting on a branch looking down at us lol

Red tailed hawks are pretty fascinating. And I'm always awed by the majestic beauty of their beaks and faces. If I drive along highway 101 or 129 I can usually see one, but they are about 60' off the freeway so I don't get a good look like you did. :)

Actually, now that I think of it, a couple times a year a hawk will perch in the trees in front of my home. That's where they'll sit until they finish off a small bird or squirrel. That's pretty cool to watch too. :sweeet:

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

That is awesome you got so close.

We also have these...(Im serious) HUGE crows. It is wild...not sure if you have them there?? They are typically bigger than the hawks....more like the size of an eagle. It is really crazy. My husband and I are always amazed...like what the ___ do they eat.

So I take it you are more rural Chicago??

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I used to think the ravens were funny... making funny noises and walking on my skylight. Now that they deficate on my car on a routine basis, I think they have a sick sense of humor. grr

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Originally Posted by DBD

Awesome Hawk!! We see them all the time here in New York.. The coolest bird of prey i've ever seen was a Bald Eagle.. We were white water rafting in the delaware river gap and we looked up into the EXTREMELY high trees and saw a huge Bald Eagle (With a pearl white head, and chocolate brown body) sitting on a branch looking down at us lol

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YES!! The Eagle's are making a huge comeback too. There is a huge state park about 45 minutes west of me called Starved Rock and in the winter people go there by the hundred to see the bald eagles nesting there. Ive seen them flying overhead a few times in the last couple years.

We are over run with turky vultures in the summer too. I just love seeing them all :D I have seen one or two Osprey passing through on their migration as well. Man I wish I could get a shot of one of those. They are monsterous! Bigger than the vultures or eagles.

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Originally Posted by Foschi Exotic Serpents

YES!! The Eagle's are making a huge comeback too. There is a huge state park about 45 minutes west of me called Starved Rock and in the winter people go there by the hundred to see the bald eagles nesting there. Ive seen them flying overhead a few times in the last couple years.

We are over run with turky vultures in the summer too. I just love seeing them all :D I have seen one or two Osprey passing through on their migration as well. Man I wish I could get a shot of one of those. They are monsterous! Bigger than the vultures or eagles.

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I know what you mean by the over run of turkey vultures!! Two summers ago, me and my little cousin got into a bit of a close encounter with about 10 of them while fishing in a river in upstate new york LOL

ahhhhhhhh Ravens....that never occured to me! They are so amazing!!

It sounds amazing where you live! I have never been to Chicago. I grew up in NE Ohio and we lived out in the middle of no where....it was so cool.

Here in SW Tucson we are pretty much out in the element. So we see deer sometimes, lots of coyotes, rattlers, javelinas, and occasionally a bobcat. We think we might of had a bobcat in the backyard. We have an auto water thing for the dogs and it goes off from time to time when the dogs are in. My mom and son thought they saw one hopping back over the fence but who really knows. She is 83 and also thinks when she calls one of my snakes she comes out of her hide to see "Grandma". :rolleye2: but ya gotta love her

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

ahhhhhhhh Ravens....that never occured to me! They are so amazing!!

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Ravens are Big Gunns buddies. Wherever Big Gunns travels would take him, there was always a Raven keeping an eye on him. This led BG to believe that Ravens are in fact....the smartest bird.:D

Well feel free to come and visit....we will let ya stay in the guest room. You will have all the Ravens your heart desires. Though I totally might take advantage of all your knowledge and drive you crazy with questions. But you can just have a beer with the hubby to get away....:8:

Cool pics.