The rain isn’t giving us a break over here in northern Washington County and I don’t do well with being housebound. “Want to go for a ride,” I asked Steve and Taylor. We rode out to Loon Bay on the St. Croix. I hoped to see moose but we didn’t. We stopped along the way so I could take pictures. I glanced up into the trees just before we passed this soaking wet immature broad-winged hawk.
This immature hawk is soaked to its skin. It wasn’t shivering but I can’t imagine it was very warm. The rain lets up but the sun doesn’t come out. The forecast says we won’t see the sun for another six days. I hope that changes, and I hope this hawk is hunting well enough to sustain itself.
Look at those talons. I was closer than usual this time. I typically stay back and push the zoom lens to its full 1200 mm. The photo quality suffers but it’s a fair trade to leave the animal unstressed. This time I was only 50 feet from the hawk because of where we were on the road when I spotted it perched on the bent over birch tree. I took a few photos and we drove on.
Thanks to Tammy Morris and Dennis Kerekes for confirming the identity of this hawk for me.