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Project Noah Nature School
Buteo jamaicensis
This is a Red-tailed hawk with 2 snakes in its talons spiraling away from me. I didn't expect this scene to happen as I was driving slowly on a gravel road. I literally parked my vehicle in the middle of the road and started taking pictures. The diet of red-tailed hawks is highly variable with reptiles being high on their list. It was really interesting watching it fly away with the snakes -- it was flying as if it was showing off its prey. It was in no hurry and it just kept spiraling higher and higher.
Spotted along the N. Wenas Road in eastern Washington. Foothills of the Cascade mountains around 2000 ft.
Spotted on Jun 10, 2020
Submitted on Jul 4, 2020
7 Comments
One for mains one for dessert.
Thanks for the kind words Tom, Neil, and Saturniidae27.
That's an truly amazing sight you were able to catch, Brian.
Amazing spotting, Brian. What are these odds, hey?
I think you and the hawk were lucky. I suspect the hawk found a mating pair of snakes.
Thanks, Sukanya. It was really exciting to see. It was my first bird with a snake or in this case 2 snakes spotting.
Brian!!!! This is incredible. So lucky to see something like this. Wow. Thanks for sharing...we got to see it too. (I am very envious though...honest confession.)