True Stories of the Red Tail Hawk

Since I started hang gliding, somehow I have a found myself in a relationship with this bird.. these stories are about that relationship..

In 1999, I was flying in Pennsylvania and looked down to see 2 white disks moving over the tree tops.. I was stunned thinking it might be an extrestrial entity.. however upon closer inspection, it was a pair of red tail hawks flying in tandem.  The white disks are white spots on their back at the base of their "red tail".  I did not know these hawks had these white disks on their back because I had never seen them in a picture before.. I just found one at Google Images taken in 2009 as shown below. 

This photo of the red tailed hawk, taken 16Jan2009 in AZ, is similar to what I have seen hang-gliding in Pennsylvania, but the colors were considerably more vivid and the white at the base of the tail was in the form of a well defined disk.  

On other occassions, when the head winds were strong, the Red Tail will alter its wing geometry to form a delta wing, this is truly remarkable as it appears to be a military aircraft with a very fancy checkerboard pattern on its wings with a red tail.  I never expect to see a picture of this but one can imagine it.

On another occasion flying in Pennsylvania, a flock of red-tails took up flying with me.  Usually they will keep their distance from hang gliders but in this case they surrounded me and flew with me for several minutes.  This may not sound like a big deal but it was !  First thing, I could see the fine manuevers they were making with their tail feathers and wing feathers which seemed to be in constant motion. 

The aftermath of this event was totally unexpected,  a few weeks later I began to notice that I was seeing birds in a whole new way, I was becoming acutely aware of the patterns on their backs - we all can see these patterns commonly from an oblique angle.  However,  in my case the patterns were being reconstructed in my mind as if I were seeing a full view .. these perceptions lasted a few months.

Recently I have not done much hang gliding but I have been reading a book about the great Sioux warrior Crazy Horse.  His "Power bird" was the Red Tail Hawk and this got me thinking about my old associate. 

Soon after reading this book, amazingly, a Red Tail came to visit me on the golf course in Norfolk VA !  I had never seen a red tail hawk in 5 years of living in Norfolk.   I was waiting at the tee box to tee off when I heard a rustle in the near by trees.  I looked over and saw a red tail hawk sitting on a low branch watching me from his unfettered perch.  

This is not the actual picture but is close to what I was seeing from about 20 yards.  My old friend was watching me play golf and I hit a very good drive..!