Red-tailed Hawk

Not as sharp as I wish it had been, but I got the chance for just one rapid shot of this beautiful bird of prey before it flew off. Yesterday, 13 September 2014, I finally got out for a drive. I hadn't been out of the house for nearly a week and was beginning to get cabin fever : ) Driving down my street, I finally got a look at just how much tree damage the late summer snowstorm (actually two storms, on 9 and 10 September) had caused. My street is lined with huge piles of cut-down branches, waiting for the city's machines to come and remove them.

My drive took me as far as Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, SW of the city, as I just wanted to see how much snow was on the ground in the forest. From the muddy parking lot, I could see that the ground between the trees was covered with a lot of snow, hiding everything that might have been there, including wildflowers and mushrooms. It will take some time for all this sheltered snow cover to melt. I saw practically nothing during my drive, other than a Magpie, this Red-tailed Hawk, horses and cows. Looks like we may have to wait till spring arrives next year before getting the chance to photograph much, if anything, other than snow photos. Many parks and natural areas are now closed because of the damage caused by the snowstorms. It's feeling rather like the situation last summer, when everywhere was closed for months because of the damage caused by the Alberta Flood of the Century.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-tailed_hawk/id