Mid July on the Texas coast can be fairly challenging for bird photography but it also brings some interesting opportunities. Many of the adult birds are pretty ragged looking from their efforts to raise young but on the plus side the new additions to the bird population start to make their appearances. Anyone who has spent time trying to photograph raptors (hawks, falcons, eagles, kites…) has probably observed that adult birds are very cautious and rarely allow a close approach. The young, on the other hand, typically are relatively confiding. This recently fledged White-tailed Hawk was quite fun to observe during a recent visit to Brazoria NWR. During the same visit I observed numerous fledgling Yellow-crowned Night Herons and Orchard Orioles. Sometimes the young can be a challenge to identify since they often look very different from the mature birds.

www.texastargetbirds.com

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Geranoaetus albicaudatus