Red-shouldered Hawks next to Downtown Maryville TN

The Red-shouldered Hawk(s) have become my favorite for bird sightings from the Maryville section of the Greenway trail over the last several months. 

It seems this pair like living here in the downtown area along the Greenway trails and the nearby Greenbelt lake as much as I love calling this place my home.

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On October 16, 2022 I decided to get away from the television (GO VOLS..Tennessee 52 over Alabama 49 yesterday) and my computer at 9:30 am for a quick mile or so walk down the hill from my condo to the nearby Greenway trail system to stretch my legs. Of course I took a camera just in case I saw any good birds, butterflies, or other nature photograph chances. I heard lots of birds calling from my open deck door this morning and even got some bird iNaturalist observations around 8 am. 

This first sighting kind of startled me as I had heard a Hawk calling soon after I started down the hill. I was hearing all the smaller birds agitated like they do when a Hawk is around. 

I was working my way going upstream next to Browns Creek when I looked to my right across the creek and on a light pole I saw what had all the other birds agitated. I got a few quick pictures before one of the Red-shouldered Hawks decided to fly off the light pole perch into some nearby sycamore trees along the creek.

Over the next 20 minutes I was snapping photos and went back and crossed the bridge to be able to move up the creek on the same side as the original perch sighting. I was able to get both birds individually at different close by trees or on another light pole. The first hawk that stayed near the first sighting had moved to a tree as the Crows and Mockingbirds were harassing it like I have often see them do.

 

I was also able to get the second Hawk with some good photographs back down the creek right across the street. I think I startled it when I was moving under a tree it was perched in trying to get a picture but I was able to see it land on a light pole and got in a good shot.

I stood in the street right under this perch as the hawk was giving me a few looks as I got some pictures after it landed and seemed to relax for a few minutes. I decided to let it be as the other one had flown off over the lake towards the dam.

These next three pictures I got today (10/16) seem to show these Red-shouldered friends have adapted well to watching over the all the commotions and humans here in Maryville. They even take advantage of our light poles for high perches to survey their territory looking for rodents, snakes, and other foods.

I had another good day from my elevated deck seeing these Red-shoulder Hawks back on October 14, 2022. I got some good photos of a Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a sycamore tree below my deck and near Browns Creek near where I first saw the pair on the 16th.

I stayed alert and got these in flight shots above the Parham Avenue Parking lot for the Greenway trails. This hawk circled around for about 3 big loops before heading off back up over the Everett Hill area.

Looks like my new favorite birds can handle living here with us Humans, but also they can fly up and see our Smoky Mountains about 25 miles to the south east.

The first time I saw the pair of Red-shouldered Hawks was on 9/7/22 with both leaving a tree perch where Browns Creek enters into the Pistol Creek and at the upper end of the Greenbelt Lake. 

Since this iNaturalist observation I have seen these Hawks 12 different times and twice the pair were together within the zoom ranges of my cameras. I also can enlarge some of the images along with digital cropping for closer looks but they were often still fuzzy from the distance. I have upgraded my camera and lens as you can see from all the previous photo's.

I will continue looking for these birds here in town. I have also seen their Cousins the Red-tailed Hawk, three times along the Greenbelt, way across town in the Alcoa trail sections around East Hunt Road and all the way to the Clayton Bradley STEM School.

Look for a post(s) in the future for them and other Nature sightings as I continue to take my cameras and use the iNaturalist App to learn more about what I am seeing as I get

Closer to Nature.... 

and add updates in this Blog! 

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