Sunday, May 15, 2011

Corralitas Drive: Meet Mr. Rose

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 15, 2011.  This morning, one of our nesting Red Tail Hawks was drying his feathers from the overnight rain in Gary's tree.  He was doing his laundry there for a couple of hours.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 15, 2011.  Corra Rose, the female (in the foreground), joined her mate briefly.  Corra is almost twice the size of her mate.  The zoom lens makes them appear similar in size. Gary confirmed the one in the foreground was much, much larger.  We'll call Corra's mate, Mr. Rose.


Photo: Gary Vlahakis, May 15, 2011.  Corra did not like the paparazzi.  She did not hang around for long.  However, Mr. Rose continued doing his laundry, keeping a watchful eye for prey on the freshly cleared slope below.

We'd like to thank Gary for sharing his terrific photos.  We'll be publishing more soon.

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Learn more about Red Tailed Hawks on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website.