A gift well received.

[gitrdun]

What an incredible gift we were given this morning while sitting at the kitchen table for coffee. A nesting pair of red tailed hawks had chicks this fall on our property. The pair of chicks have grown and seemingly made the trees on our acreage their home. We hear and see them all day long. There hasn't been a single magpie here all year long. And then, one of the residents came for a visit on our upper deck railing. He/She perched there for at least a half hour as we spoke to it. Flew away for a while and then came back for some more discussions. I took the pictures through the kitchen window and screen as to not scare it off. But WOW! what an awesome visit. Beautiful raptors, my favorites are owls of any type.

[Pixel Shooter]

that's awesome! hope he visits more frequent

[threeforthree]

amazing sight..

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

that's awesome! hope he visits more frequent

The pair of once were just chicks in the nest have now grown into adult birds. They have made a home into our spruce trees. It seems as though mom and dad have gone, but their chicks now remain as to fully grown adult birds. It now seems as daily routine to see them, hear them and watch them hunting mice and what have you. It's almost as though they are part of our family.

[David Henry]

Great pictures, its nice to watch them grow. Our Humming birds pulled out of Bentley a day or two ago and headed south, keep an eye out for them. D.H.

[just_dave]

Too cool! All I get are robins nesting in my yard. The male starts attacking my windows at 5am for weeks on end. Next year a plastic owl is going up.

Love the photos!

[oilngas]

Great Pictures and story.

David Henry; "our" Hummers stopped Aug 15 to 18 to fuel up on their honeysuckle and are now gone. On a section of the Bow just below Calgary Aug 22 there were about 30 Yellow warbler fueling on Caddis.

[covey ridge]

This may be a good time to remind people that this is the time of year that the young hawks are left on their own. Though seeming full grown, these young hawks are as dumb as a sack full of hammers. When driving back roads, watch for them as they often stand on the side of the road and don't move for traffic. It seems like there are a couple every half mile or so. It is sad that I often see piles of feathers that are flattened into the gravel. Please watch out for these young birds.

[gitrdun]

Originally Posted by covey ridge

This may be a good time to remind people that this is the time of year that the young hawks are left on their own. Though seeming full grown, these young hawks are as dumb as a sack full of hammers. When driving back roads, watch for them as they often stand on the side of the road and don't move for traffic. It seems like there are a couple every half mile or so. It is sad that I often see piles of feathers that are flattened into the gravel. Please watch out for these young birds.

You're absolutely correct covey ridge. As well, right around the later afternoon hours, huns propagate near gravel roads to eat gravel. When you see one coming across the road, surely it will be followed by a few more. So, please slow down and watch out for the rest of the covey. Same goes for Whitetails, one comes across the road, but be careful for those that will follow.

As a side note, I should mention that our hawk actually came back today and perched on the very same deck railing and sat there for at least 40 minutes talking to my wife. I wasn't there as I was feeding the fish (bad fisherman). Very cool.