There is a special spot in my heart for red tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) because my first falconry bird was a red tail. She had been injured and couldn’t fly well enough to be released back into the wild, but she worked well for short flight demonstration at the nature park where I worked. That’s why I’m always happy when I see one. I love being able to see them in the wild and image what my bird must have looked and felt like before her injury. I was ecstatic when this one flew across a small field and landed in the oak tree just above me. I grabbed my camera and hustled to a place with a good view and fired off a few shots. The bird only stayed there for a few minutes, so it was lucky that my camera was close at hand. I had been loading my truck to head home from work after a long, tiring day, but that short encounter energized me for much of the rest of the evening.