Patagonia Creek Preserve

The Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve run by The Nature Conservancy is another great birding spot with maybe two miles of trails. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I didn't go in, but I traveled along the back road paralleling the Preserve. In doing so I came across a Gray Hawk that had just caught something which it was eating. It took some photos through the front windshield -- which, of course, never turn out quite as well. When I tried to "quietly" open the door he flew across to the other side of the road a little further back. But this enabled me to get some clear photos through the drivers side window. Gray Hawks are rare in the US. Some have been reported in the extreme southern tip of Texas and in the extreme southwestern corner of New Mexico. In Arizona, we are a little luckier. They inhabit most of the southern Sky Island mountain ranges -- although not common and only occasionally seen. Here then, our the photos:

Here is the Gray Hawk as seen through the front windshield.

Now having flown to the other side of the road.

Here you get a good look at the pattern on his underside.