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A Red-tailed Hawk calls while flying over Prairie Oaks Metro Park, West Jefferson, Ohio.
A Red-tailed Hawk eyes a snake it is battling, Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A Cooper's Hawk perches in a tree in Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A Red-shouldered Hawk perches on a cypress knob in Six Mile Cypress Slough, Fort Myers, Fla.
A Red-tailed Hawk flies over Prairie Oaks Metro Park, West Jefferson, Ohio.
An immature Red-tailed Hawk perches on a limb in Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A close view of a Cooper's Hawk, Blendon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A Red-tailed Hawk perches on a nesting box, Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk perches on a limb, Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A Red-tailed Hawk perches on the roof of a shelter, Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A nesting pair of Red-shouldered Hawks perch together on a limb in Colonial Country Club Preserve, Fort Myers, Fla.
A Red-shouldered Hawk surveys the water in Six Mile Cypress Slough, Fort Myers, Fla.
A Red-tailed Hawk perches atop an Eastern Bluebird nesting box in Sharon Woods Metro Park, Westerville, Ohio.
A close look at a Red-shouldered Hawk in Six Mile Cypress Slough, Fort Myers, Fla.
A Red-shouldered Hawk looks back while perched on a limb in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Naples, Fla.
Red-tailed Hawk above wetlands, Slate Run Metro Park, Canal Winchester, Ohio.
I see quite a few hawks when I'm shooting wildlife in local parks, both during summer months when we are in Ohio and winter months when we are in Florida.
But if I can see the hawk, that usually means the hawk can see me. And that's a problem, because hawks are quick to leave when a human gets close.
I've managed to get a good collection of photos of hawks in flight or perched in a number of different locations. Most of my shots are of Red-tailed Hawks (when we are in Ohio) or Red-shouldered Hawks (when we are in Florida), but I also have a number of shots of Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks.
My favorites are a couple of photos of Red-shouldered Hawks taken in a park in Florida and a close-up of a Cooper’s Hawk taken in a park in Central Ohio.
Much of the credit for the portraits of the Red-shouldered Hawks goes to my wife.
We were walking through Six Mile Cypress Slough, a park in Fort Myers, one morning when I saw a Little Blue Heron hunting in the wetlands. It was behind some plants so I kept my attention on that area waiting for it the move to a clear area so I could get a photo.
I heard my wife quietly call my name so I held up my hand to indicate “just a second,” and continued watching for the heron.
She said my name again and again I held up my hand.
Then she tapped me on the shoulder.
When I turned she pointed to a Red-shouldered Hawk that had landed on a cypress knee above the water, probably about 15 feet from where we were standing. The hawk ignored our presence while it looked for a potential meal.
The bird was so close that I had to back up a few steps, leaning against the rail on the opposite side of the boardwalk above the swamp, to be able to get a photo. I actually shot a series of photos at this location, then a few more when the hawk hopped to another cypress knee a few feet away.
I like how the hawk is so close that feather detail and features are clear.
And I would have missed it had my wife not been with me that morning.
I was lucky on the close-up of the Cooper's Hawk. I was in a viewing shelter shooting Cardinals and other birds near a feeder on a winter morning when the hawk dropped into the nearby underbrush to grab a House Sparrow. After eating the Sparrow the Cooper's Hawk perched on a log about 25 feet from my location. It couldn't see me in the viewing shelter so I captured a number of portraits of the bird.
