I went to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge with Jay Mangum. Our intention was to photograph birds in Shovelers Pond at the refuge. One thing that had peeked my interest was when looking at Anahuac on the Audubon Birds app. for my iPod3, there were 127 different species of birds reported the site. On the way in though, we so many hawks and a few American Kestrels, the smallest falcon, we decided to shift our strategy and go for the raptors. The hawks were for the most part, Red-tail Hawks with a few Northern Harriers flying around. Ordinarily you can't get within 30 to 40 yards of an American Kestrel; however, one must have thought he was auditioning for a screen test.
Adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawk.
Adult Eastern Red-tailed Hawk.