Mt Philo Hawk Watch Photos

I was looking at the images from my visit to Mt Philo on my computer. When I saw this image, I was hooked. I knew I had to have more. I had never seen a hawk viewed from above. It was just beautiful to me. ( picture below)

This bird flew out of sight very quickly and I was left wondering what it was. My hawk ID abilities are all based on looking up or out at the bird as it flies overhead. Checking in Hawks from Every Angle by Jerry Liguori on page 57, there, in the lower left hand corner, was the answer - an image of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, my favorite raptor. Now, there is no way that I wasn't going back to Mt Philo to do some more hawk watching.

With my friend Harry, binoculars, all the camera gear and sandwiches from the 3 Squares Cafe in Vergennes VT, we set out for Mt Philo to do some hawk watching and hopefully capture some good images of the hawks while we were at it.

Well, two juveniles and one adult Red-tail put on quite a show. The adult (female) was flying very low overhead, looking around, hunting while the two juveniles played tag off in the distance. These images show the female Red-tailed Hawk as she circled around hunting just off the ridge viewing area. Enjoy!!!to see a list of the hawks we saw today click this link to VTbird

P.S. I received this from a non-birding friend :

Hi Peter-
Fantastic photos of Red-tailed Hawks! In looking at the link to all you saw that day, I have no clue as to what "TVs heading south" means. I'm sure television sets don't fly! *smile*
Lorraine

Well, I remember how I laughed the first time I read, 'TVs flying south" on VTbird. I was a beginner then and I eventually found out that it meant Turkey Vultures. But I thought that it was such a funny statement - "TVs flying south", that I made a mental note back then for future use. So as I filed the VTbird report, I added it just for a good laugh. Truth is, I don't think TVs are even counted .

Good Birding!

Peter

images and story © 2009 Peter Manship