I continue to try to photograph every hawk that I see. This past weekend I encountered a hawk that was perched relatively low in a tree that was pretty far away. I got a couple of shots of the hawk in the tree that had a surprisingly large number of leaves still on it.
As I was setting up my tripod to try to get a steadier shot, the hawk took off. Instead of flying up, he flew down low across a field with trees in the background. Although I didn’t really think I would be able to get a decent shot, I kept shooting and got the shot below. I like the position of the hawk and the contrast between its light brown color and the darker tones of the tree. It not often that I get a chance to take a photo of a hawk in flight at that angle.
I am also including one of the shots of the hawk in the tree in the hope that someone will be able to help me identify his type.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
I’m not good at hawk identification, but the shot of it flying that low is wonderful.
Thanks, Vicki. It really was luck. I didn’t think there was any chance that I would be able to focus on the flying hawk. I am happy it came out as well as it did (though, of course, I would have liked for it to be a little sharper).
I wonder if that is a Broad-winged Hawk. It’s looks like a rather compact bird with short wings and tail in your photo, similar to the B-W hawk. Just a guess. Nice photos!