Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Harris's Hawks Happily Heralding Heavy Humidity

Two years ago the 4th of July was cancelled in Phoenix due to windy and dry conditions. Now there's a nasty rumor going around that the fireworks might be cancelled due to monsoon rain. I guess we in Phoenix are only 'fair-weather' patriots...

Anyhow, the recently fledged Harris's Hawks at Encanto Park seemed to be enjoying the overcast weather. They're darker birds, and thus naturally feel empowered by macabre weather.


With this year's nesting success, there are now at least 4 Harris's Hawks living on the Encanto Park/golf course. They perch along the perimeter netting, seemingly aware that their quarry is more-or-less enclosed and ready to catch whenever best suits the predators.


There's not too much going on with birds in the Phoenix area right now, but it was nice to see these pretty Hawks doing so well. I've still got a backlog of photos from last month's beach trip and other adventures back in Arizona. Summer already seems to be slipping away...

9 comments:

  1. I'd love to see Harris's Hawks, on netting or anywhere really! Good to know that they made out well during their nesting season.

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    1. Arizona beckons Mia...maybe you could follow some of your Utah birds when they head down south in a couple months : )

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  2. A fascinating tip that I discovered about these hawks over my studies on Birds of Prey was that they will do their hunting early or late evening during our hot summer days. They aren't native here and were brought in with the cattle ranchers during the early days. As long as there was water, they found ways to stay cool during the day and did their hunting at dawn and dusk. And from my observations this summer, I can always count on them at sundown flying around hunting. They are so beautiful! This year has been a good year for many birds of prey and it has been exciting to watch it all go on. Nice shots of these magnificent birds!

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    1. That's interesting. I've definitely noticed their preferences for hunting, as well as their neat practice of hunting in groups, but I did not know that they were an introduced species.

      I agree, they're really beautiful birds, ones that, perhaps because of their limited range and non-migratory nature, don't seem to be mentioned enough in the larger discussions of North American raptors.

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  3. Good shots Laurence! Summer is going by so fast! I do hope you are enjoying it!

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    1. It's really blazing by here (in all possible senses of the word: heat, fires, speed). I'm managing to have some fun : )

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  4. Sweet pics. I've only seen one in captivity.

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    1. You best gitcher' self down to Arizona Moe. In one weekend and maybe 5 hours of driving you could pick up over 100 new species!

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