Cool Nature Photos

[buckeyefarmer]

I'm heading to Conowingo Dam on Monday & Tuesday to shoot the bald eagles (photographically). I hope to have some nice shots to post up next week.

My sister was there a few weeks ago looking.

Friend of mine got a good picture of one near his house yesterday.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Cool shot. I thought hawks ate various rodents, not other birds.

Looked out the window one morning and saw a little puff of grey feathers floating to the ground. I couldn't see where they were coming from, so I stepped out on the patio...and on the top of the power pole in the back yard, was a hawk. He was plucking the feathers out of a dead dove. I also saw a hawk fly over with a snake in his claws once upon a time; that told me how that dead snake I saw hanging from the power line got up there.

 

[ovrszd]

Looked out the window one morning and saw a little puff of grey feathers floating to the ground. I couldn't see where they were coming from, so I stepped out on the patio...and on the top of the power pole in the back yard, was a hawk. He was plucking the feathers out of a dead dove. I also saw a hawk fly over with a snake in his claws once upon a time; that told me how that dead snake I saw hanging from the power line got up there.

Yeah, I've saw Hawks carrying snakes a lot.

For me, the biggest surprise about birds of prey is in regards to Bald Eagles. We revere them as a great hunter. They are more like a majestic vulture. They will feed on roadkill or any other carcass they can find. Less energy, less risk of injury.

 

[Motorboatin]

This guy was a regular visitor last summer. He would hang out when I was grilling

 

[dalola]

Cool shot. I thought hawks ate various rodents, not other birds.

What's really fun is if you happen to catch one taking a bird out of flight. It takes a minute to figure out what happened, as you see a burst of feathers, and look for the hawk flying off with the bird in it's clutches. Would love to see a hi-res pic of that!

 

[farmeratheart]

What's really fun is if you happen to catch one taking a bird out of flight. It takes a minute to figure out what happened, as you see a burst of feathers, and look for the hawk flying off with the bird in it's clutches. Would love to see a hi-res pic of that!

I have no photos to back up this story. This happened in the early 1970's long before digital photography was available to the masses and years before cell phones of any kind let alone those that great cameras existed.

I was raking hay for my Dad in about a 10 acre field. I had 2 red tailed hawks circling high above me. There were rabbits in the alfalfa that I was raking and as I raked the mowed swaths into windrows occasionally a rabbit would dart out and run up the row before hiding again. I was near the center of the field when the last rabbit who had been chased out several times and kept moving towards the center made a break for the edge of the field. One of those hawks swooped down and picked up that rabbit like he weighed no more than a feather. As he climbed in altitude the other hawk who was still circling high up dove at the first hawk causing #1 to drop the rabbit. Before the rabbit hit the ground #2 caught it and sped off towards the woods near the edge of the field at nearly ground level. This whole spectacle only lasted a few seconds and I confess that I was so amazed by what I had seen that I probably would not have gotten a photo even if the technology had existed!

 

[ArlyA]

Here is a albino gray squirrel that visits our bird feeders. We've seen him/her in our neighborhood for quite a few years.

 

[deserteagle71]

I have no photos to back up this story. This happened in the early 1970's long before digital photography was available to the masses and years before cell phones of any kind let alone those that great cameras existed.

I was raking hay for my Dad in about a 10 acre field. I had 2 red tailed hawks circling high above me. There were rabbits in the alfalfa that I was raking and as I raked the mowed swaths into windrows occasionally a rabbit would dart out and run up the row before hiding again. I was near the center of the field when the last rabbit who had been chased out several times and kept moving towards the center made a break for the edge of the field. One of those hawks swooped down and picked up that rabbit like he weighed no more than a feather. As he climbed in altitude the other hawk who was still circling high up dove at the first hawk causing #1 to drop the rabbit. Before the rabbit hit the ground #2 caught it and sped off towards the woods near the edge of the field at nearly ground level. This whole spectacle only lasted a few seconds and I confess that I was so amazed by what I had seen that I probably would not have gotten a photo even if the technology had existed!

Watched the same type of situation in the mountains of central Nevada some years ago - only it happened to a Golden Eagle. I was sitting up high on a ridge overlooking a deep canyon. There was an eagle circling and floating on the currents rising up from the canyon; suddenly he dove down into the canyon and disappeared from my view. But a minute later I saw him flying back up, working his wings hard because he had a good-sized rabbit in his claws. I quickly grabbed my binoculars and focused and was able to see the rabbit was still alive and struggling. Suddenly a smaller bird - probably a falcon of some sort - came into the view of the binoculars and hit the eagle in the back, causing it to drop the rabbit. That smaller bird was unbelievably fast - it snatched that falling rabbit out of mid air and flew away to some nearby rocky cliffs. What I wouldn't give to have a video of that whole episode!

 

[Doofy]

A few shots I took at North Park near Pittsburgh over the weekend.
Click to enlarge.

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Very nice. Oh, what does a Canadian Goose say? "Honk, eh".

 

[cqaigy2]

Very nice photos and i enjoy the stories too.