A Golden ... Redtail? (Shallow Thoughts)

A Golden ... Redtail?

We were flying R/C planes at the soccer field at Overlook on Sunday morning when somebody asked, "What's that bird doing there?" There was a big bird sitting in the middle of the field. It looked like some sort of raptor. I keep a monocular in my flying case (it's not the first interesting bird to show up at the flying field), so I pulled it out. The bird had its back to me, but hmm, big raptor, all dark brown except for golden feathers on the neck and a few light ones on the back ... "Hey, guys, I think that's an immature golden eagle!"

Fortunately I'd brought my camera with a long lens, for photographing planes. I kept an eye on the bird, alternating between monocular and camera, until finally it turned and I could see a light underside ... and a rust-red tail. Darn! Not that red-tailed hawks aren't cool too.

The redtail looked like it was eating a gopher -- there are certainly plenty of those on the soccer field. (All the gopher mounds make takeoffs and landings extra challenging.)

The hawk didn't seem at all bothered by the electric planes flying above or landing on the field, or by the photographers circling around it in search of different angles (we kept our distance, trying not to disturb it). It seemed unperturbed even when we flew a session of aerial combat. It was still there half an hour later when we finally packed up and left.

Such a pretty bird. Even if it wasn't an eagle.