Thursday, September 18, 2014

Corralitas Drive: Juvenile Red Tailed Hawk

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, September 11, 2014.  Last week, the young Red Tails were seeking relief from the heat in the shade of the log cabins.  The youngster was one of two that had been in the Eucalyptus trees for hours.  Earlier, in the blazing midday sun, I watched the adult miss a squirrel in our palm tree, while a youngster was calling to be fed nearby.

Over the past few years, Vlahakis shot countless frames of our resident Red Tailed Hawks who nest on the 2 Freeway at Rosebud Ave.  He's documented our incredibly urban hawks, nesting on a freeway, feeding young, enduring construction, interacting & even hanging out on the railing of his house.  After you've edited hundreds of frames, you do recognize individuals quite easily.  This was a new face.

When a neighbor alerted us to the hawk below his house, Vlahakis immediately shot a few frames, sent this photo with the note, "definitely young."   

We are grateful to Gary Vlahakis for sharing his fantastic photographs of the Red Tailed Hawks.  He's given us an opportunity to see what only a few of us have witnessed when these magnificent hunters pay visits to our backyards.