Hovering high

This is a juvenile red-tailed hawk, as seen today by my friend Cathy and I when we were at the DeKorte Park in the NJ Meadowlands today.  It is not a great photo, but it shows a flight behavior that I've not seen before in this particular hawk.  I've seen some other species of hawk hover like this, watching the ground below for prey, but never this species  As we got talking to another birder who was nearby, he told us that this hovering behavior is only usually seen in juvenile red-tails, as they learn how to hunt from the wing.  Interesting bit of knowledge and I thought it made my decision for a blip pretty easy.  You can see how the bird's wings are curved down and the tail is splayed and angled down - he was literally holding position high up in the air.  Image is heavily cropped.

We had a great day - the weather was perfect and we got a couple of rare species in addition to the usual migrant ducks and songbirds you'd expect at this time of year.  Also two harriers and a bald eagle - always nice to see.

Hubs is feeling marginally better today although definitely not up to par yet.  Tomorrow promises to be another glorious, warm day so I'll do my best to drag him out for a walk.

Liking the new computer - very fast and loads of storage space...

Cheers!