Gaze of a Predator

There are special places where hawks and eagles gather to spend the winter, places rich in mice and voles or other food sources. I photographed this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in northern California's Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a magnificent marshy landscape that lies within the Klamath Basin. Mt. Shasta towers in the distance, and I have often photographed flocks of geese silhouetted against that 14,000 foot snowy volcano.

The morning when I photographed this hawk, frost covered the scattered cedars and the birds were hunkered down against the cold. This individual cooperated long enough for me to get a good portrait, before flying off for a day of hunting over the marshes.

Lee Rentz