Always cool when you see a new animal.

[Coralkong]

I joke to my wife and say it's turned into Mutual of Omaha's Wild Animal Kingdom up here.

Spring has finally sprung in the White Mtns of New Hampshire, and animals are (quite literally) coming out of the woodwork.

Well, we've been catching glimpses of a bird of prey hitting the back yard, and I didn't know what it was.
Finally saw it again, and looked it up.

Apparently, they're pretty rare. I've never seen one before, ever.

Northern Goshawk.

I thought it was an owl, to be honest. I see it every once in awhile out of the corner of my eye. It swoops down, and then at the last second, opens its' wings to slow it up and nails something out there....fieldmice, I have no idea. We got a pretty good look at it (albeit a quick look) the other day.......we all kind of looked at each other, and said "Yep, but I don't know what it is!"

This is it!

So fucking cool. I love living up here......(though late February gets a little old).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_goshawk


Very, very, very cool!
Apparently their range is like 50 square miles or something ridiculous. I looked up the NH Game .pdf on it, and they describe their ideal habitat. It fits PERFECTLY with my back yard.

Stoked! It is very fast, and very elusive.......absolutely gorgeous creature.

 

[jaxn slim]

That's magnificent. The first shot does look a bit like an owl at first glance.

 

[PunkKitty]

Beautiful bird. I wonder if it's tasty.

 

[Coralkong]

Beautiful bird. I wonder if it's tasty.

I dunno, but my money is on him in a fight, Punkkitty.....no offense.
It is very fast, pulling up at the last minute and then basically hammering whatever it is after with its' talons.

Absolutely gorgeous animal.

 

[tiger roach]

Great sighting!

 

[mongooz]

very cool

 

[OGG]

Awesome!

 

[jaxn slim]

I dunno, but my money is on him in a fight, Punkkitty.....no offense.
It is very fast, pulling up at the last minute and then basically hammering whatever it is after with its' talons.

Absolutely gorgeous animal.

Talons are a great weapon. But humans have shotguns. (If we were discussing a hypothetical fight in which I don't think Punkkitty would actually have any interest IRL.)

 

[Coralkong]

Talons are a great weapon. But humans have shotguns.

Can't do that.

They're protected in NH.

 

[jaxn slim]

Can't do that.

They're protected in NH.

They're protected everywhere in the US, but we're talking about a hypothetical fight.

 

[Coralkong]

Talons are a great weapon. But humans have shotguns. (If we were discussing a hypothetical fight in which I don't think Punkkitty would actually have any interest IRL.)

I know I wouldn't want to fight it, lol......even hypothetically.....it was pretty bad-ass.

Those talons look like they were made to fit behind the human eyeball.

And that would suck.

A lot.

And cause irreversible damage.

 

[wagdog]

That's awesome. Have seen several owls here, but never one of those.

 

[jaxn slim]

I know I wouldn't want to fight it, lol......even hypothetically.....it was pretty bad-ass.

Those talons look like they were made to fit behind the human eyeball.

And that would suck.

A lot.

And cause irreversible damage.

Hey. You're the one who brought up the fight.

 

[Modern Saint]

Cool Owl!

 

[335clone]

Nice.
We have a blue heron that likes to hunt fish in the river in our back yard.

 

[Theodore]

My kayaking buddy/buddies. I know there's more than one because I've seen one while it hooted to one somewhere on the other side of the creek.

Looks like the pattern on the chest is a bit different.