Like much of the rest of the United States, the last week has been much colder here than usual. We even had snow in the Florida panhandle and into northern central Florida. That’s not a once in a lifetime occurrence, but it sure isn’t the normal for us. And not only have we people been chilled by this unusual weather, but so has the wildlife. On my way into my office last week I saw this young red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) hunting one of the open farm fields that I drive by. As it perched in the tree top with the cold breezes whipping across the farm, I couldn’t help but notice the bird kept itself kind of fluffed in order to keep warmer. It wasn’t long after I took this image that the bird took off across the field and swooped down after something. I’m not sure if it was successful or not since it flew to a tree across the field. I know in the colder weather birds need a lot more calories to keep warm with their high metabolisms, so I kind of hope it was. Fortunately, starting tomorrow we should be seeing some increases in the temperatures with them heading back towards normal by midweek.

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