Red-tailed Hawk in a Spring Prairie Snowstorm

~ Amusives

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. – Henry Van Dyke –

15-hawk-in-snow

Spring! At my place in Alberta, the grass is getting green, the first daffodils are blooming, the robins are building a nest in the spruce tree in the back yard, and the hawk is… huddled on a fence post because it is snowing again!

The Feather Files
Name: Red-tailed Hawk
Species: Buteo jamaicensis
Native to and Migration: These are the most common hawk in North America. A Resident or short-distance migrant, birds from Alaska, Canada, and the northern Great Plains will fly south for a few months in winter – but they remain in North America. Birds across the rest of the continent typically stay put,
Date Seen: April 2014
Location: North of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

25 thoughts on “Red-tailed Hawk in a Spring Prairie Snowstorm”

  1. Snow. Last time we had snow in Ontario is April 15th I heard. I was away at the time. The sun tries to shine, the grass has changed to green and the robins are noisy, but I haven’t seen any daffodils yet.
    I like your photo. ~(*_*)~~

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    1. Alberta has both the fortune and misfortune to lie in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. We get all sorts of interesting weather, like warm chinook winds in the winter, and heavy snow late in the spring, as a result!

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      1. Weather has become such a source of conversation, but then that’s what we do in Canada, eh? 😀

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  3. Mr. Henry Van Dyke does not exaggerate, does he? Surely Old Man Winter is ready to retire after this last hurrah!

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    1. In my part of Alberta, the only months that we normally don’t get any snow are July and August. It usually doesn’t snow in June either. We often see the heaviest dump of snow of the whole year in May – often after the trees have leaves on them!

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  4. Amazing photo…. we’re done with snow for the season, but it’s still been cool and rainy. I think our spring will be short-lived, and the weather will be hot and humid before we know it!

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  5. Wow. I love your photo of the hawk. Our cousin LC has been studying photography and has also taken some amazing wildlife photos. Good job.

    Regarding puns, I wrote this on a friend’s timeline yesterday after she ended a comment with the words “holy cow!”

    Truth be known, I herd that the cow didn’t actually go to bible college. She doesn’t know a lick of scripture although she tries to milk the rumour that she’s been a pasture for the last few years and has her own flock.

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    1. I have only seen a few of LC’s photos, but I had heard it was her retirement passion.
      The pun is excellent!

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  7. That is one intrepid raptor. I feel sorry for the first varmint that shows his face in that snowstorm.

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    1. I hope some of those varmints are the voles that did so much damage in my yard this past winter.

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  9. Yikes! Love the photo, but sorry about the snow. It’s going to hit the mid-80s here in Illinois today. Could we have a little bit of spring between winter and summer????

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    1. I know what you mean – too big a change in too short a time. We were in Arizona in April and all of a sudden we went from pleasantly warm to temps in the low 90’s.

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  10. And yet, as Old Man Winter continues to hang on here and there I sense someone here or someone there not talking about the weather. Could it be weariness or contentment or wishing for the change of season? Alas! The seasons decide our moods!

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    1. I agree – we are all so tired of the weather that we don’t even have the energy to discuss it!

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  11. I think we may need to shift the dates of when the seasons “officially” begin… 🙂

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  12. Is that one of your all-time best photos?? Owl say!!

    Wonderful, wonderful capture, Margie! : )

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    1. Thanks Mark. I have a good one of a bald eagle and another one of a hawk that I will have to post soon too.

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