Plus a little excitement with a young cow struggling to give birth.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Yesterday morning I found the female rufous Red-tailed Hawk once again. I never did get very close to her so these photos have been moderately cropped but she made up for it with some interesting behaviors.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
After not doing much of anything for a while she broke out into this wing stretch. She then began a more dramatic downward stretch of her right wing but she was looking away from me for the entire time.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Then she pooped (I’m not quite sure why this shot is softer than the others}. As they often do I expected her to take off after defecating but she had other plans.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Suddenly she began to retch so it was obvious that she was trying to regurgitate a pellet. She retched for quite a while in multiple sessions before…
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
the pellet finally began to emerge.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Here it’s bouncing down the side of the rock.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
It continued to tumble down the rock and
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
eventually fell over the edge and disappeared.
I’ve been lucky enough to document pellet casting in a variety of raptor species over the years but I’ve only rarely been able to do it with Red-tailed Hawks so I was happy to get this series. The fact that the bird involved was this stunning rufous female was a bonus.
As I was leaving the area 27 minutes later we came across a young cow who was trying desperately to become a mama for the very first time. I took a few photos for documentary purposes but she was very strongly backlit so I had to process the hell out of the images to make them even moderately acceptable. But I think they’re good enough to be useful to readers in understanding the situation.
It was heart-wrenching to watch.
The young cow was really struggling to give birth to her calf. The face and two front feet of the calf had emerged but she didn’t seem to be making any progress and I had no idea how long she’d been in this condition. She tried to stand up twice, as she’s doing here, but each time she collapsed before getting on her feet.
She was exhausted and very possibly in dire straits.
She appeared to be getting nowhere which made me wonder how long she’d been in this condition. I’ve seen cows and sheep die attempting to give birth so I had thoughts of attempting to pull the calf out myself but in the end I didn’t because it wasn’t my cow and I didn’t want to make any mistakes with someone else’s property.
So I drove down the road to the nearest ranch house perhaps five miles away and knocked on the door. A very pleasant young woman answered, the wife of the rancher. I explained the situation and she used her phone to call her husband who was out working somewhere on the ranch. He suggested that we return to the cow to confirm that she was in trouble so the rancher’s wife and her very young baby joined Mia and me in my pickup and we went back to the cow.
When we got there to our great relief we found the cow and her newborn calf and both seemed to be doing just fine. I didn’t take any photos because they were mostly hidden in the sagebrush. It was a false alarm but I didn’t want to take any chances because I’ve seen some terrible things when livestock have problems giving birth. In a previous year in this same area we found a sheep with a long-dead lamb hanging out of her. The lamb was decomposing and you could smell it from a great distance. No critter deserves such a fate.
Another upside is that we were able to meet and have a nice visit with the rancher’s wife and her very young baby boy. Mikala was very friendly and a joy to talk to and her young son Sage seemed to be the perfect baby. Both Mia and I thoroughly enjoyed making their acquaintance, false alarm or not.
We just never know what experiences we might have on our bird photography trips.
Ron
Wonderful shots. Thanks, Ron
I’ve never seen such rich red redtailed hawk…so beautiful! So glad you had compassion for that poor cow–even if things worked out(literally) OK…your concern for her speaks volumes for you…iy must have been a horrible experience for her…even no fun when things go well…I have four kids, 6 pregnancies, and didn’t have much fun giving birth…
An experience I’ll never know, thankfully. But I suffered with her vicariously to some degree. Thanks, Patty.
Ron, quite a posting you had today. I like what Arwen said about the “pooped and pelleted”. Glad the young cow and calf were ok. I’m sure you feel quite good about seeking out the farmer and his nice wife and son. Sometimes things do work out in a good way. Thank you
It was nice having something turn out well for a change, Alice.
Barfin’, BMin’, and birthin’ — another typical day in the Feathered Photography world. 😉 As EC would say, “Better out than in,” in all three cases. 😛
So glad you were there to help the calving cow. Poor little thing! Thrilled it all turned out OK. The ewe story breaks my heart.
I’ll never forget the sight and the smell of that sheep, Marty.
Ron, Thank you so much for asking about the cow and calf! Looks like it was a very big baby!! Glad cow and calf are fine. And great pictures of the hawk, she’s a beauty, regardless of what she’s doing…
Carol
She sure is!
So glad everyone was alright in the end!
Sometimes there really are happy endings, Shelley.
From the tale of the tumbling pellet all the way to a very happy birthday, fantastic documentation and storytelling.
I loved the tumbling sequence and the shot of the calf’s face emerging with tongue hanging out like it was plumb tuckered out from the struggle.
I think they were both plumb tuckered, Dave. I know for a fact that the cow was. Thank you.
Well done on both fronts, Ron! I feel like I’m “getting to know” this Red-tail. You never know what you’ll see in the great outdoors!
I’m beginning to think of her as an old friend. I first photographed her last year so we go way back. Thanks, Diane.
Sensational shots Ron! Glad the cow made it OK looked like a very difficult birth.
Charlotte
It certainly was. Thanks, Charlotte.
Thank you very much for the hawk behavioral photos . I’ve never seen that! The cow story also was compelling, thanks!
Thank you, Dana.
Poop, pellet, and parturition. A typically atypical outing (pun intended) in the adventures of Featherd Photography. Thanks for sharing a memorable and productive (can’t stop with the puns) day.
Your entire comment was delicious, Lyle. I’ll be smiling over it for much of the day.
We’re on the same wavelength, Lyle! Have a puntastic day! Cheers! 🙂
What great stories Ron. Both the Red-tail and the pellet and the cow giving birth. You are a good citizen to take the time to get in touch with the rancher and get someone out there to be sure the cow was going to be ok. They needed the Incredible Dr. Poll – not sure if you have ever seen that show, but my wife watches all the vet shows. I could just see you trying to pull that calf out and there goes the back and another month or so of rehabilitation. Hopefully Mia would have stopped you from trying that. Thanks for sharing both these. Very interesting and educational.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
“I could just see you trying to pull that calf out and there goes the back and another month or so of rehabilitation”
That very thought entered my mind, Everett. In some situations it’s hard to know for sure what the best course of action (or inaction) might be.
Still can’t get over the gorgeous coloring of this hawk! 🙂 She certainly was taking care of business at both ends before getting on with her day! 🙂 GREAT capture, Ron. Yes, the critters can get in trouble birthing with horrible consequences for both mother and offspring! 🙁 Glad it all worked out! Know you aren’t a cat fan but we had that happen with a barn cat once and we didn’t notice for “awhile”. Fortunately, we were able to pull the dead kitten and the mother survived……
“She certainly was taking care of business at both ends”
Well said, Judy.
I’ll never forget the smell of that dead lamb and the pitiful look of the mother.
Glad you sought out the farmer! And the pellet shots? I love how they watch them. She looked like, “Good. Pooped and pelleted. Now to refill so I can do it again.)
That’s a good way to put it, Arwen.