raptor pictures

I'm fascinated by birds of prey but we all know how elusive they can be to photograph! These pictures were captured at the Arthur M. Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge which is a northern part of the Everglades. I went there around 7 a.m. a few weeks before Christmas and was lucky enough to come across two pairs of Red Shouldered Hawks who happened to be in very playful moods. I watched them for about 20 minutes as they screeched and performed wonderful acrobatics in mid-air. Unfortunately, I was totally unprepared with my camera so I never had a chance to snap any pictures! The pictures I'm sharing below are of two of the Red Shouldered Hawks. Aren't they beautiful? The birds......

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The female Red Shoulder sitting gracefully on a very cold Christmas morning! The time was about 8:30 a.m. - she was soaking in the suns warmth. There was a boardwalk that extended into the sawgrass underneath the tree...but I didn't want to disturb her so I used my teleconverter and this is all the closer it brought me to the subject.	I am absolutely in love with this picture. Again, I was as the Loxahatchee early one morning...on the prowl for a huge iguana that lives in the treetops there....when I turned the corner - there she was! One of the females that frequents the refuge. I shot many pictures similar to this one but this one if my favorite.
Using my old teleconverter, I captured one pair of Red Shoulder Hawks as they were resting after their playful antics. They perched on the treetops for the 3 hours that I was at the refuge before they flew off.