His shout reverberated as he announced his arrival this morning!
I have posted about the African Harrier Hawk before and decided to post again because I got many good shots of him this morning.
We are in the last day of stage 5 lockdown and tomorrow stage 4 will start. But I digress, as I want to show you this beautiful scary fellow.
Let's have a look!
Note! The video at the end is not for sensitive viewers!
I had my camera on the "Sports" setting and it delivered the 3 shots above of his calling in a rapid succession.
This tree above and the yellow arrow is where the hawk was sitting!
Distance about 80 yards, but I was on the Super Zoom.
Looks like a cloak that he is wearing that covers his head and shoulders. And of course also a striped "Gucci" suit lol.
Busy cleaning himself, you can see that it is not a cloak, but rather feathers!
The resident Egyptian geese couple, Harry and Sally certainly let the hawk know that he was not welcome!
They sounded the alarm and all of the squirrels and even the house cats disappeared; not a bird in sight!
The hawk seemed to be just staring at the goose show with those grave black eyes!
Quite an impressive guy this killer is, as he calmly sat and reconnoitered the area. Making mental note of weak spots that he can attack in the future!
Finally, after about 30 minutes he flipped around and ruffled his feathers. A sign that he was preparing to take off!
Yep! That was the wing stretch and a moment later he dived down behind the tree, not to be seen again.
But I know that he will be back to capitalize on what he saw!
NOTE! THIS VIDEO IS NOT TO BE OPENED BY SENSITIVE VIEWERS!
You may have noticed that I called the hawk scary and killer a few times. That is indeed what he is and small animals stand no chance against his killer claws and ripping beak.
Let me show you here what his claws look like!
.JPG)
Like butcher's knifes are those claws that can easily lift 5 kilograms or even heavier. At the grab the prey is killed instantly!
Here is some more information about this guy!
"The African harrier-hawk is a medium-sized raptor. The upperparts, head and breast are pale grey. The belly is white with fine dark barring. The broad wings are pale grey with a black trailing edge fringed with a narrow white line. The tail is black with a single broad white band. There is a bare facial patch of variable colour, usually red or yellow. Genders are similar, but young birds have pale brown instead of grey, and dark brown replacing black".
" An unusual trait of this species is the double-jointed knees it possesses, which enable it to reach into otherwise inaccessible holes and cracks for prey. A comparable leg-structure and behavior can be found in the Neotropical crane hawk; a case of convergent evolution".
Source
And That's All Folks!
Most of my posts deal with the beauty of nature, but as in our lives, there is always a dark side. Great offers that we receive at times dressed up nicely exactly like this hawk. False news, scammers, get rich quick schemes, fraudulent emails, crypto thieves, you name it.
Many times we fall for it and burn our fingers.
Beware of the harrier hawks in life!
Note: All pictures are my own, unedited and only cropped for uploading purposes.
The two paragraphs in inverted commas ("") is not my own and duly source cited.
Camera used: Canon Powershot SX60HS fixed lens.
Settings: "Sports" and "Super Zoom".
We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity
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oh man, beautiful bird, what a blessing to had the posiility to stand on front of him and take a picture on your house (:
Thank you kindly my friend and that big double story house belongs to a neighbor.
I stole into his yard to get the photos.
Blessings!
He's a real beauty! All part of the circle of life.
Yep, a man has to eat and there are many videos about the "inhumane" ways of animal hunters attacking their "innocent" prey Sir Steve.
But nature is not human and it lives according to its own structured rules.
Time again for me to play watchdog over our squirrels and birds over here.
Fortunately the geese and the crows are my security services hahaha.
Same as last season, they will all gang up against the hawk when he comes too close.
Ooh wow...this is such a beautiful and impressive bird ..! Now I have not watched your video because of your warnings, I am this kind of sensitive soul...btw, thanks a lot for the warning 😉
Thank you kindly and I am so glad that you heeded my warning.
The video is grisly and not suitable for sensitive souls such as yourself.
I am a big lover of nature and yet, I have to tell it as it is.
But I also have respect for the readers of my posts.
As @stevevc commented here, it's all part of the circle of life.
But the nasty part can be quite shocking.
That's why I posted the warning
Thank you for the visit and I am glad that you appreciated the bird's beauty!
Blessings and take care!
I totally understand that it is the circle of life, and I'm ok with that, it doesn't drive me crazy at all 😊 I just don't want, neither need, to see it and observe it and let it be part of my vibrations, so your warning is really appreciated, it adds even more value to your post because you didn't search to show the sensational to make audience..your beautiful captures are enough to draw some deserved attention 😉
Exactly my idea my friend. Not to create some sensational scribe that draws hundreds, but rather to show nature in its true form and in the process hurting many sensitive souls.
All for what? Money and popularity? Not my way of life.
Even at Papillon I work in the background, not title and no prestige.
Yes, as the founder I draw a small stipend, but I work for it as you see in my years of posting online and also by arranging all of the goods for the distribution project.
I am not even on the independent board of Papillon (my wife is, as the administrator).
Thank you also for appreciating my warnings about the video.
Glad that you understood my intentions and happy vibrations to you!
That is one seriously impressive bird! Wow! Great photos of him! I am going to skip the video, too, but assume that all of your regular friends are safe!
!tip
All safe thank you Lady Melinda. I was watching him closely, as I also know where the weak spots are.
So does the geese and the crows and it's going to be a repeat of last season.
I snapped two of them together in flight last week, so they have also returned to nest here up in the mountain and in about a months time the two of them will be out to visit all of the identified spots for prey to feed their youngsters. If they have two youngsters, they will kill the one and feed it to the stronger youngster.
Nature certainly works in amazing ways and it's always the strongest that survive.
Glad that decided not to watch the video.
Blessings and take care!
Filicide. Killing your own child how awful.
Shame, you are such a dear soul.
In nature its all about the survival of the strongest and the fittest my dear friend.
I was very perturbed when the beautiful little keets of the Guinea fowls that we were feeding started disappearing every day until there was only one left. Shocked and Marian was in tears most of the time.
But this is the way things are done in nature and difficult as it was, we had to learn how to accept it.
Any animal with a broken wing or a leg don't last long in nature. There's no orphans and no wheelchairs.
Just the raw truth about nature. Most beautiful and also the most shocking to our human senses.
You were blessed with a kind heart my friend.
Be happy and stay safe.
I know. I see it up close here in the woods, too. I understand but I don't have to like it!
Of course you don't have to like it dear.
I never doubted that you will not like it in the first place.
That's why the warning, for special souls like you.
You probably visualize a lot and a such scenes will totally disturb you.
Marian is the same and she will also not have a look at anything that is bad.
Hope your weekend is good.
Marian and I would be good friends! ❤️
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Awesome shots of the Hawk your super zoom is amazing
Thank you JJ, how well do I remember how I used to struggle with the smaller camera in the Tsu days.
It was perfect for the dragonflies and other close ups, but could do nothing over long distances.
Someone, I can't even remember who. tipped me off about the SX60 and with luck I got this one on a special.
Blessings and stay well my friend!
From what I have sene you do with it the sx60 is a powerful tool in the right hand s;)
Wow! You are full of kindness my friend.
How are we ever going to get the crowds to see you as a tattooed thug?
Will have to invent some new form of marketing to get that image out there.
Might cost millions to invent it.
Eish!
LOL Not everyone sees me as you do trust me ;)
Such is life my friend I am also two sides of a coin, but I prefer the kind one.
I bet 100% that you do too :)
Yes I will concede that is true I prefer the kind nice side of myself ;)
that does impress!
Thank you and glad that I could impress you my friend!
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Thank you kindly!
Hey there, here @lizanomadsoul from HiveBuzz team 🙂
You're welcome @papilloncharity! What a great achievement! You have my full respect 👍🙂
Thank you for the kind words dear @lizanomadsoul.
May I presume that you are connected to the other @anomadsoul?
Rest assured that also enjoy my full respect.
Blessings and take care!
hey @papilloncharity! @anomadsoul and me started around the same time yes 😉we were working in the same hostel by then in Mexico.
We are still friends but lost contact somewhere on the road though. Now we only see each other on steemfest 😅
Thanks and also take care 🙂
Well in that case I am blessed as I am now honored to know both a female and a male anomadsoul Lol.
He is a good guy and I bet that you are too.
Blessings!
of course I am 😇😉
They are beautiful birds - Squirry better make sure he stays out of sight
Thank you my friend.
Thankfully Squirry hangs around here with her four children every day and we have the geese, crows and Troy around. Closest that the hawk came last season was up in the sky, surrounded by bombing crows.
We will all keep an eye out for him lol.
Blessings and stay safe!
Brilliant photography considering the distance Stephen, what a beautiful bird.
Video shows tenacity of Starlings trying to chase the hawk away, perhaps a tree they use overnight, or have young close by.
Never seen one of these hawks, you have a local visitor that pops in regularly!
Those were Drongo's that were bombing him Lady Joan.
Over here we have the crows that tackle him. One crow can be joined by 10 other crows when they send out a special alarm call. Believe me as I have seen and heard the alarm on the farm.
The hawks are a couple and they nest here in the mountains every season.
Mayhem whenever one of them comes over the nesting territories, as even the smaller birds rise up to tackle him. They also cover a wide area as we saw them as far afield as the apple farm in Grabouw.
Glad that you liked the post my friend.
Blessings and stay safe!
Drongo's definitely have attitude, would not think twice of protecting their space.
Have seen Starlings react in numbers to chase Indian Myna birds, similar size battle in the skies.
Gorgeous photography, nature is always full of surprises Stephen.
Wow! Stunning photos of the hawk and the video is great too! It's amazing to watch those smaller birds trying to drive the hawk away from its meal. Poor squirrel but that's nature... the hawk has to eat! May I ask what kind of camera you're using for these shots?
Greetings Sir Keith. I don't have the money for expensive cameras with many lenses, so I opted for a bargain on a new Canon Powershot SX60HS on the advice of a friend.
It was the super zoom that I was after, as I love to shoot the moon and this camera is ideal for it.
Bonus is that it is compact, with many settings, Wi-Fi and the works.
The camera has been discontinued as the new Canon Powershot SX70HS has replaced it. They have developed it for the higher internet system that is slowly being rolled out.
Thank you for the kind words about the shots and were you on Tsu by any chance?
For some reason I seem to remember you, but my 66 year old brainbox is rusting Lol.
Blessings and take care!
I think you certainly made an excellent choice with that camera. I've been considering getting a super-zoom camera myself because I could never afford a lens that would get me so close for my Olympus camera... in fact, no such lens exists. Yes, we met on Tsu... are you excited that it is coming back?
Google the new SX70 my friend. In your hands you will be sure to see how well that zoom works.
Have already pre-registered and only hope that we can re create what we once had.
And you?
I will take a look when it opens. I have also pre-registered. It's hard now to remember exactly how it was, and of course I'm sure it will be changed in any case. I remember it was easy to donate to charities and I did this several times.
Ah and I presume that you donated to us as well.
You are right in that the memories have become a bit hazy and I can offer the excuse of age here, but here and there I can still remember some good things.
It's not going to be an easy time for them to gather all of the ex Tsuvians, as most of us have become established elsewhere and they will also have to assure the new (old) members of their continuity for security reasons.
Time will tell and let's wait and see.
Yes, your charity and a few others. I can't remember the names.
btw, your banner about #teamsouthafrica droves to steem, think it needs an update (:
Yeah, you are right my friend.
I must stop using it!
Blessings!
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Thank you kindly for the support!
Wouldn’t have known what this bird is, if I didn’t see this post of yours. Looks can be deceiving. He seems harmless, but really I shouldn’t be judging.
Thank you and you remind me of a story that I heard as a child.
Everything that seems harmless invites closer inspection.
So true as it helps one to see the dangers in life.
Take care my friend!
You have such beautifully colored birds in South Africa!
I love seeing the beauty and wonderment of nature but I'm also very aware of the cruel, darker side that comes about for survival!
Great capture - thanks for sharing!
Thank you and it's the same in life my friend.
Great hearts and dark hearts walk side by side.