Was stoked to grab a quick pic or two of this Red-tailed Hawk at the Jordan Lake State Recreation area last week!

Usually, you can see these birds engaging in one of two activities: They are either soaring above the fields, giving the occasional territorial “kree – ee – ah!” Or like this lovely bird, they’re found perching high up in a tree, keeping a keen eye out for the movement of a darting rodents on the ground below.
Red-tails will defend their territory for hunting and breeding, and will chase away any other birds of prey who dare fly in on their home turf.
I only had a few seconds to take photos of this one before it spotted a rival and took off to investigate the intruder.
What a cool looking bird!

Photos & video by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc
Canon 5Ds

All photos and video were captured with my mighty Canon 5DS. If you are interested in getting shots like these with this 50 MP beast of a camera, please check out the link below to Canon USA.

Birdwatching NC is sponsored by Canon USA and I am proud to be a Canon shooter. After 13 years of trusting my professional photography business to Canon’s line of products, I cannot recommend this company strongly enough. If you have have any questions about my gear, shoot me a message!