Harassment

MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
edited April 25, 2007 in Wildlife
A few days ago I went to one of my stomping grounds to see if Mr. or Mrs. Red Tailed Hawk was around. One of them was. I'm not sure which. I think it was Mr. since it looks to be the smaller of the two. I am posting these shots more to showcase animal behavior than to showcase the photos. The lighting was bad and the action was pretty far away, but there are one or two neat looking action shots. Anyhow, Mr. was just minding his own business staying far away from me as usual.

It was a partly cloudy day and he was just flying around surveying his territory.
Red_tail_In_Flight2.jpg

Red_tail_In_Flight.jpg

Eventually he landed on his favorite perch.
Red_tailed_landing.jpg

But then, this guy showed up to cause problems.
Raven7.jpg

Mr. Red Tailed Hawk immediately took off screeching as it flew.

Red_tailed_harrassment12.jpg

Soon, Mr. Raven began to bully Mr. Red Tailed Hawk. I'm not sure what issue the two have. :D
Red_tailed_harrassment16.jpg

Red_tailed_harrassment6.jpg

The Raven came from down below....
Coming_up.jpg

It came from up above....
Red_tailed_harrassment9.jpg
Here, the raven tried to take off a wing.
Red_tailed_harrassment.jpg
It eventually began dive bombing attacks.
Dive_bomb.jpg

It all culminated with a big push between the shoulders.
Harrassment_from_above2.jpg

How brazen of the raven! The Red Tailed Hawk high-tailed it out of the area with the raven following harassing the heck out of the hawk.

I had heard that crows/ravens like to molest hawks, but I had never seen it. It was cool to capture some of it. I just wish the lighting had been better.
Stephen
www.capture-the-pixel.com

Comments

  • riddim_makerriddim_maker Registered Users Posts: 1,835 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    Great action!clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif
    especially the last shot bowdown.gifbowdown.gifbowdown.gif
    Russ
  • ShasocShasoc Registered Users Posts: 691 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    Wow! These are amazing behavior action shots, Maestro. thumb.gif I really enjoyed watching these and your commentary made it more interesting, giving a sense of the action. clap.gif
    Socrate
    "Natura artis magistra"
  • Ric GrupeRic Grupe Registered Users Posts: 9,522 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    I've seen this many times. The raven always wins.

    Interesting that you were able to capture the harassment! clap.gif
  • Image MakerImage Maker Registered Users Posts: 70 Big grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    Great captures. I have also seen this here in SC. Unfortunatly, it is always to far away to get with my camera.
    Deb
  • dogwooddogwood Registered Users Posts: 2,572 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    Ric Grupe wrote:
    I've seen this many times. The raven always wins.

    Yeah, strange how that works. We have crows in my area, and they always win too. One time our cat climbed a big tall pine to get one of the crows but all the crow buddies showed up and started harassing the cat. It took her about a second to realize not all birds are equal and she scrambled right out of the tree and to this day she never goes after crows.

    That last photo in your series is an especially nice capture, but I love the whole series.
    Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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  • ShepsMomShepsMom Registered Users Posts: 4,319 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    Amazing shots Maestro!! It was quiet entertaining to see and read your captions. Great job on capturing these birds "in argument" clap.gif
    Marina
    www.intruecolors.com
    Nikon D700 x2/D300
    Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
  • jeff lapointjeff lapoint Registered Users Posts: 1,228 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    As many times as I've see this while driving i've never had my camera handy to shoot it. Really cool series!thumb.gif Someone was telling me that the crows can actually do a fair bit of damage if they hit the hawk right, but I've never heard anyone in the know substantiate the claim...

    -j
    www.lapiz007.smugmug.com


  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 24, 2007
    dogwood wrote:
    Yeah, strange how that works. We have crows in my area, and they always win too. One time our cat climbed a big tall pine to get one of the crows but all the crow buddies showed up and started harassing the cat. It took her about a second to realize not all birds are equal and she scrambled right out of the tree and to this day she never goes after crows.

    That last photo in your series is an especially nice capture, but I love the whole series.

    Thanks. That is about the only one that might be a "keeper." I was just too far away, the lighting was too bad, and the action was very fast paced, almost too fast paced for my lens.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited April 25, 2007
    Super capture! thumb.gif

    Harrassment_from_above2.jpg
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • dallasdallas Registered Users Posts: 1,638 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    Good or bad light, great capture......clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif
    William
    http://woofwoof.smugmug.com
  • jwearjwear Registered Users Posts: 8,013 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    the last shot is the one for the wall thumb.gif and the raven does not always win --one day I watch one chase a red tailrolleyes1.gif the RT put up with it for a long time eek7.gifheadscratch.gif then at about the same position as your shot deal.gif the RT did a 180 and I think I saw poop in the sky eek7.gif it was not RED and the chase was at an end rolleyes1.gifrofl
    Jeff W

    “PHOTOGRAPHY IS THE ‘JAZZ’ FOR THE EYES…”

    http://jwear.smugmug.com/
  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    kdog wrote:
    Super capture! thumb.gif

    Thanks Kdog. I got quite lucky on that one.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    jwear wrote:
    the last shot is the one for the wall thumb.gif and the raven does not always win --one day I watch one chase a red tailrolleyes1.gif the RT put up with it for a long time eek7.gifheadscratch.gif then at about the same position as your shot deal.gif the RT did a 180 and I think I saw poop in the sky eek7.gif it was not RED and the chase was at an end rolleyes1.gifrofl

    I should think so. One swipe with those talons and the raven is mince meat. I don't know why they put up with it.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    dallas wrote:
    Good or bad light, great capture......clap.gifclap.gifclap.gif
    Thank you so much.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • MaestroMaestro Registered Users Posts: 5,395 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    jeff lapoint wrote:
    As many times as I've see this while driving i've never had my camera handy to shoot it. Really cool series!thumb.gif Someone was telling me that the crows can actually do a fair bit of damage if they hit the hawk right, but I've never heard anyone in the know substantiate the claim...

    -j

    I went back the next day and saw the same red tailed. It seemed just fine. So no apparent damage was done by the raven. Thanks for looking.
    Stephen
    www.capture-the-pixel.com

  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited April 25, 2007
    Excellent behavior captures. thumb.gif
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
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