A Kettle of Hawks

Some Canada Geese up at Montezuma

I was hanging up laundry when the boss brought Mack out for a visit. He was racing up and down the lawn between us when I heard the cry of a Red-tailed Hawk, quite close.

I looked up to see if there was danger. Big hawk. Very small dog.

Far, far up in the sky, as far as I could see with naked eye, was a large swirl of some kind of raptor. I watched for a while and then pointed them out to the boss. Wings looked too short for vultures, but they were way higher than you normally see hawks...eagle height at least.

Then they drifted a little lower and I could pick out light-colored breasts and a definite buteo shape. 

A little lower still and a Red-tailed appeared out of the group.

By definition a kettle is something over a dozen hawks. Since there were at least thirty, and probably more like forty, I'd say we had us a kettle.

They may or may not have all been Red-tails, but whatever they were, they are a landmark for me. I have never seen such a grouping, or indeed any flock of migrating hawks, here at the farm ever....and I am always looking up.

However, thanks to Murphy and his infallible little law, I never see anything that cool when walking with camera and binoculars and deliberately birding. Nope, it's a laundry hanging sort of phenomenon.