Hawkesville Red-shouldered Hawk

2013 marks the 11th year that a Red-shouldered Hawk has overwintered in Hawkesville, a small town northwest of Waterloo.  Red-shouldered Hawks are occasionally seen in Ontario during the breeding season and abundantly during migration, but rarely during the winter.  Normally this species would be wintering further south into the U.S, but for some reason, this beautiful adult bird has decided to call this aptly named town home for over a decade.

I wonder how old this bird actually is!? The record for the oldest known wild Red-shouldered Hawk is just over 22 years!

I tried 2 other times to spot the bird which had been seen earlier in the winter without any luck, but the 3rd time was a charm and I eventually spotted it on Thursday January 16th.

I managed to snap this record shot as the hawk was chased into the open by crows.

After this, the hawk flew up into a tree and I got a nice shot of its backside showing the distinctive black and white barring on the tail typical of this species.