I was amazed at the number of Red-Tailed Hawks I saw in Colorado my recent trip. In fact, the very first picture I got in Colorado was a picture of a Red-Tailed Hawk catching a large snake.
Perhaps the greatest surprise of all was that there was even a snake out in winter in Broomfield, especially since it had snowed the week before.
Seconds later the apparent mate of this bird started circling us
dropping ever closer to the point where I could barely keep it in the frame.
I actually had several more sightings of Red-Tailed Hawks on my 5-day visit, but this one on the last day particularly stood out because of how white its chest was,
even more noticeable because it was sunning in the 50° weather. Although it didn’t look like any Red-Tailed Hawk I’ve seen while sitting in the tree, it did look like one once it took off and flew by us.
I often find it difficult to identify Red-Tailed Hawks because there are so many “morphs,” or variations in plumage. Luckily they are all beautiful and photogenic, which is all I’m really very concerned with.