You never know what kind of wildlife you'll see in urban Texas. I had parked my car in the parking lot of the Marriott Courtyard hotel in Houston TX, and was heading to the checkin counter, when I spotted this very large hawk catching a snack in the driveway. Not having my "big camera" with me, I pulled out my cell phone and slowly moved toward the hawk. He didn't seem to care if I was there or not, so I named him BraveHawk.
But even BraveHawk could not stand to have another human walk up behind him. The other gentleman took no notice of the intrepid bird, but BraveHawk decided to take his dinner up to a branch of one of the pine trees near the hotel.
I am really glad I got to see this beautiful bird. It is by far the closest I have been to a wild bird like this, and I was very impressed with him. I am glad to get a couple of photos to share with you, and I hope you like them.
Till next time,
Mike Z
Hi Mike, neat photos and story! That looks like an immature Red-tailed Hawk. Immature birds of lots of species are common this time of year. and they are often not as wary as adults. So close encounters with them are more frequent. Immature Red-tailed Hawks also have a distinctive call, which I've been hearing near my house for the past couple days.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mikael, for the ID. I have looked in my new copy of Peterson Field Guide and I was leaning toward the red-tailed hawk. Mostly for the color pattern of the tail feathers. I did not get to hear its' call though--too busy eating I guess.
ReplyDeleteMike Z