During my recent vacation stop at Gingko Petrified Forest Interpretative Center, I enjoyed watching a territory battle between a Common Raven and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. The birds spent a good twenty minutes or so swooping around the cliffs, up and down, and over and around the Center. Oh, how I wished a pro photographer had been there! But I snapped what I could, and here are the results:
Combatant number one: Raven
Combatant number two: Hawk
Raven chases Hawk:
Hawk chases Raven:
I have no idea who is chasing who here:
Hawk gives up and flies away, perhaps to do battle another day.
I'm so glad I was there at precisely the right time to see this fabulous encounter.
Wow, those are wonderful. I don't blame the hawk for leaving. There is something about ravens.
ReplyDeleteEric and I once saw ravens doing their courting flights amongst a group of paragliders.
P.
Yup, the raven was very vocal and very persistent. And the hawk was a juvenile, and possibly bit off more than it could handle. They were very evenly matched in size, though, and it did go back and forth quite a lot.
DeleteCourting flights among paragliders?? Fabulous!
How perfect Alex, being in the right place at the right time, sensational photos
ReplyDelete