That is not a red tail hawk

What a very fun day! Molly dog and I decided to go over and see the owls this morning. Not super early like I usually do. We went at a civilized time, around 9am. The babies were looking very cute and Cher was in her usual place keeping a close on her babies.

 

While we were admiring the owls, a man and woman joined us. They were an interesting couple. The woman mentioned that someone had told her that the babies were out of the nest yesterday. I said that was not possible as there would be no way for them to get back into the nest. Their nest is about 15 ft high, so it was not possible at all. She then clarified that they were sitting up on the jagged wood in the above pic. Hmmmmmm, I decided not to argue with her, especially since she was going by hear say. But again I did not think that was possible. They are only about 3 week old and do not have the strength to stand on that narrow, jagged wood. 

Molly and I decided to go to the west lake so she could be off leash. We did a nice walk and headed back over to the owls. Not much was going on, so we decided to head home. As we left the nest, a woman walking by mentioned that there was red tailed hawk in a tree over the lake. Sure, red tails are common but I love to photograph, so we headed over to check it out.

As I was walking over, a man caught up to me and asked if I'd seen the owls. I said yes, the babies were looking quite cute. At this point, I get to where the woman said the red tail was. I look up in the tree and it is not a red tail but an immature bald eagle! The man looks up too and says" is that the owl"? I quickly said no and he asked what was it? There was no time to answer his question as the eagle could fly at any moment. So I ignored the question and went to find a good spot to photograph him. This has been an ongoing issue for me. I am a very polite person and am happy to answer questions and even chit chat a bit with most anyone. But I have missed many photo opportunities because of it, so I have had to learn to be rude. Today I got an A+ in rudeness and I did not feel bad one bit.

As I'm photographing the eagle the woman that said the owls had been out of the nest shows up. She is also getting some photos. I mention that a woman had mistakenly said this was a red tailed hawk. She says " it is a red tail, I saw him last night".  At this point I have to correct her. I point out that the bird is way too big for a hawk and the tail is not red. She didn't say anything but after a few minutes, she finally realized I was right. So it seems her knowledge of birds is pretty non existent. Maybe I should buy her a bird book?

Ah well, never a dull moment around the owl nest. You do meet some interesting people!

Enjoy the eagle( not hawk) pics!