It was nice today to get back to nature after a week in the city of Vienna, Austria. Still a little jet-lagged, I got up early and headed out to Huntley Meadows Park on a cold frosty morning. There are still lots of migrating geese noisily coming and going through the park, and a smaller number of ducks too. Familiar cardinals, blackbirds, and sparrow were active today as well.
One real highlight for me today was having a hawk fly overhead. I’ve been told that there are Red-tailed Hawks, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks, and Sharp-Shinned Hawks at the park, and I had no idea what kind of hawk it was that I managed to photograph. I saw him land in a tree across a small field and I was able to get some shots of him there. Neither of these two photos is super sharp (the light was not good and they are cropped, especially the one with the hawk in the tree), but I am happy to have been able to capture images of a beautiful, powerful bird. I think that this is probably a Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), although I am not one hundred percent sure on the identification.
I hope that I will be able to see the hawks in action this winter (and possibly some bald eagles that are occasionally sighted here too).
Hawk in flight
Hawk in tree
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I haven’t seen this bird since I lived in Missouri, although I believe they are supposed to breed here in MN. Nice find!
The tree where he is sitting is supposed to be a favorite perch, according to some of the birders with whom I have talked. I keep an eye out for him every time I pass that area. I’ve seen him there once before but didn’t get any decent shots.
Looks like a red shouldered. Of course I’m a tad out of practice. It’s not sitting right for sharp shinned or coopers.