A Majestic Bird

The bird you see in these pictures is a red-tailed hawk. I spotted him from the road as I was driving by. He was off in this very distant tree, but he was so big that he looks closer. I'm not sure what made me look in that direction, but I'm glad I did.

I have to tell you that I saw this hawk back on the same day that I saw the turkey vultures. I've seen many things since then, even today, but I didn't want this sight of a hawk to be lost to time. These big birds are some of the most majestic animals in existence.

I was able to stop the truck and take pictures of this hawk from the window. So there was no actual hiking involved this time, even though I was on a standard hiking trip that day. For those of you who don't know, Almost all of my photos are taken while I'm out hiking. Hiking is the real reason I go out.

The animals, like this red-tailed hawk, are really just a bonus on my hiking trips. I talk about the animals because they give me more varied and different things to say. My hikes aren't the kind where I would walk for several days or for many many miles. I usually only go for maybe a maximum of six miles. Most of the time I probably average two. But I still accomplish what I want, like seeing this hawk.

I watched that hawk sitting in the tree for several minutes. I did my best to get the pictures, but the distance made it difficult to get them. A camera can have a hard time focusing at far distances on an animal that is surrounded by branches. It doesn't know if I'm after the hawk or the branches. I got lucky this time.

I think the hawk knew I was there watching because he finally leaped into the sky and flew almost straight away from me. But with my trusty camera I was able to get a few good pictures of that too. There is only the shape, but I still got it.

And there he goes, that majestic red-tailed hawk. I finally lost him when he flew past the distant tree line. I'll still never forget him though because he was another very special sighting. It's not every day that I see a hawk like this one. Seeing something like this is very thrilling.

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