Tag: Hawk

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #149

This Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) was on the prowl looking for a late afternoon meal at Bosque Del Apache, NM. I am not at all an expert on any of the birds I photograph and my ID skills are much slower than my photography. So if there is anybody that can correct me, I am open to help.

I love the look in his eye, glad I was the hunter and not the hunted. But it put a little shiver in me anyway.

Remain the hunter on your journey††nada te turbe†††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #145

I have longed for and tried many times before to send myself on a vision quest. I never knew what I expected, and tried way too hard to force the quest. I was always trying to be in control. To put the vision into my head that I felt was needed or wanted at the time. It has always failed. I long ago have moved past the puberty stage and should have settled into a direction long ago. I have always been on a journey, but never one that I was felt was my true calling. I have wandered without a compass for too long.

Last week amongst the wild and the birds at Bosque Del Apache, things just fell into a sharp and defined heading for me. I feel that I have a true vision quest to follow, and it all came from a bunch of birds, go figure.

You must have vision on your journey††nada te turbe††jim

Photo of Da day @ Da Pine #142

Okay, I promised some more manly birds, but this one is a female, albeit a handsome one indeed. She is an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), the smallest and most common of North American hawks, although I don’t know that I had ever seen one before. They grow to 9-12 inches, a dainty little thing with those marvelous vertical facial stripes. A group of them are called a “hover”, “flight” or  “soar” of kestrels.

She posed atop this cottonwood tree and over the course of 15-20 minutes let me inch to within 15-20 feet. I usually like to get photos of my subjects doing something, and I think she was just showing off what a beautiful creature of God that she is….Don’t pose (except for HIS glory) too often on your journey†††nada te turbe†††jim