In the last month I’ve been pretty lucky in terms of getting photographic opportunities with some birds of prey. Some of these images, or images from the same series of photographs, have appeared in previous posts on here on 10,000 Birds but it seemed worthwhile to gather them together.

All of these birds are, of course, wild and free, and none were induced to come closer to me in any way and none were flushed by me.

Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis at Edgemere Landfill, Queens, New York

Osprey Pandion haliaetus at Jones Beach State Park, Nassau County, New York

Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus at Bayonne Golf Course, Bayonne, New Jersey

Merlin Falco columbarius at Jones Beach State Park, Nassau County, New York

Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

Keep your eyes to the skies! And, if you are having difficulty figuring out how I managed to put names to these birds, may I suggest that you check out the book that Donna reviewed today?

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.