January 26, 2018

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk 

As a volunteer at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary led me toward the coiled up, well camouflaged cottonmouth, this big guy swooped in and landed a few yards away from me. He certainly seemed to be on the hunt and some visitors were concerned the red shouldered hawk was going to try to grab the nearby (venomous) snake. The raptor scanned and scanned the area, and even flew from one branch to another in the vicinity, but showed no interest in the snake. Makes you wonder if it recognized the cottonmouth as a potential threat.  I'll will post more pics from our Corkscrew adventure soon.  In the meantime, the SDP staff is enjoying a long weekend.  Happy Friday!

7 comments:

Nancy J said...

I would hope the birds know danger below and steer clear. He is a beauty.

Lowell said...

What a wonderful photo. I took some hawk photos in our backyard the other day but wasn't sure of the type of bird...I think it was this red shouldered one.

William Kendall said...

A beautiful bird.

Bill said...

A beautiful photo of a beautiful bird.
Have a grand weekend!

Brian King said...

That's a beauty!

Kay said...

Beautiful bird and a fine shot of it! I wonder if predators instinctively know better or may just stay away from something that looks too big and may be too hard to turn into dinner. (I do know that our chow hound Labrador retriever -- who's eaten some stuff I'd never call food -- won't eat mushrooms, the domestic kinds we eat for dinner. Instinct?)

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Excellent shot! You have to wonder if through past experiences they know what's best left alone!