Northern Goshawk

Being able to listen when exploring or just walking through the outdoors can be very important. Sometimes it can help you see things that you otherwise might miss, but can also prevent you from walking into a dangerous situation. A number of years ago I heard a moose calling out. When I came out in the open, I could see a female with her calf across the creek in the willows. They were surrounded by barely visible members of the wolf pack. In the end, the adult female moose was too strong, resulting in the wolves giving up and moving away.

A few weeks back, I was walking through the woods. I could hear a red squirrel giving out alert calls. After spending a lot of time outdoors, you start noticing the different calls of wildlife. When I also heard the calls of Red-breasted Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees, I was certain there was a predator present. As I took a few steps towards the calls, I looked around and saw nothing on the ground. So either it was a small mammal predator on the tree or a bird of prey. As I moved forward, I could see the squirrel and also where the birds were calling from. I looked down at the trail I was standing on, there was a fresh bird dropping. I looked straight up, a juvenile Northern Goshawk was looking down at me. This was the predator the squirrel and the birds were warning about. There were no larger birds to mob and have the goshawk fly away, so for now it stayed perched five meters above the ground.

I slowly moved forward to get far enough to stand back and watch. Several minutes passed, the goshawk had enough, it defecated and then flew away to a quieter place where it could ambush its next meal.

Northern Goshawk

During the birding season, I tend to see predators more often like the Northern Goshawk. With so many preys for the predators, it’s good to keep a lookout for this and other local hawks. But they still don’t stay long enough to get a good look, unless they are perched in the distance or unaware of me. When coming out of their hiding, they have to be quick if they want to be successful catching a prey. It’s a positive for them with so many birds to choose from, but also a negative with so many birds to warn others.

I was standing in a spot while watching birds and taking pictures when the opportunities presented themselves. Near me were also about 120 elk, grazing or resting. To my right a Killdeer calls out, I look toward it and see it coming toward me and goshawk pursuit. The Killdeer goes past me and the goshawk turns away and then tries to go for a European Starling among the elk. The goshawk just misses it. Everything was happening so fast, there was no way to get some pictures of the action, except when the goshawk perched on a tree to get a breather. Even the birds get tired. Perched on a cottonwood tree, about forty to fifty meters away with elk between us. Even without the elk, from my past experience I was not going to be able to get too close. I took a few pictures when it looked toward me, branches without the leaves made for an interesting pattern. Soon after, it flew into the nearby woods.