Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 3, 2012, 11:07 AM. The Red-Shouldered Hawks use the thick canopy of trees on Adelbert end of the Red Car Property to stalk their prey, and mock me. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
I usually see the Red-Shouldered Hawks near the Adelbert cut-through to the Red Car Property. They are more wary of people than the Red Tails. Thus, I rarely get a good photo of one. Saturday, I managed to get a few dozen photos as I followed it from tree to tree with my leashed dog in tow.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 3, 2012, 11:09 AM. Above the historic viaduct footings, its camouflage gives it an advantage in wooded areas.
The hawk would call a few times, then fly between the trees, land on a branch, looking around at not only the ground, but also the sky as if it were looking for another hawk. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this appears to be an adult. (California Red-Shouldered Hawks are more red than the eastern hawks.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 3, 2012, 11:09 AM. In case there was any doubt about those red shoulders.
They are smaller than Red Tails and larger than Cooper's Hawks.
Learn more about Red-Shouldered Hawks: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
