When I photographed this young Red-shouldered Hawk at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge it had been fourteen years since I had this species in my viewfinder. I was SO excited that I almost had buck fever.

Young Red-shouldered Hawk in a hardwood forest in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, OklahomaYoung Red-shouldered Hawk in a hardwood forest in Oklahoma – Canon R7, handheld, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 6400, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500m, natural light

I barely saw this young Red-shouldered Hawk while my dear friend Steve Creek and I were driving through a heavily forested section of the refuge. I asked Steve to back up and when I had a clear view of the hawk I started taking photos of it.

Note:

Based on my experiences with this species, young Red-shouldered Hawks are among the loudest and noisiest immature raptors in existence. Furthermore, they can be very approachable at times. In Florida, I have witnessed them flying right over my head, so close that I could feel the whoosh of air from their wings. There were even instances where they landed in such close proximity to me that I could have reached out to pet them. Of course, I didn’t do that although it was tempting.

Immature Red-shouldered Hawk at Sequoyah NWR, OklahomaImmature Red-shouldered Hawk at Sequoyah NWR – Canon R7, handheld, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 6400, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500m, natural light

I was ecstatic to have this young Red-shouldered Hawk in my viewfinder and thrilled to have taken these photos of immature buteo.

I always think of Red-shouldered Hawks as forest hawks because that is typically where I found them in Florida and that was where I saw them at the refuge in Oklahoma too, although I did see the adults fly over open agricultural fields as well. I didn’t get to take photos of the adults but I sure enjoyed seeing and hearing them while I was at the refuge with Steve.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-shouldered Hawk photos plus facts and information about this species.