2026 Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Raptor Fest - Part 2

Continuing from Part 1 of photos from this year's annual Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Raptor Fest, below are highlights from the flying demonstrations. Falconer Steve Hoddy, founder and director of Earthquest, brought several of his birds to show their flying skills and teach about environmental conservation.

This is Horton, a Great Horned Owl. 

And this is Gila, an Aplomado Falcon, now endangered in the US.

She thrilled the crowd with her fast loops and swoops.

The wire hanging from her feet is a transmitter so she can be tracked in case she decides to go off on an adventure of her own.

Next up: More flying demonstrations in Part 3.

2026 Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Raptor Fest - Part 1

I had the pleasure of attending the annual Raptor Fest at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in Florida earlier this month. It's a fundraising event to help them maintain the preserve and to care for the many birds they have in their care. All of the resident raptors are captive due to injuries or imprinting on humans, and cannot survive on their own.

Up first is this cute little Screech Owl. 

Here is an example of red-morph and gray-morph Screech Owls. It was really difficult to capture these two looking in the same direction at the same time.

This Barred Owl drew a lot of attention with her beautiful dark eyes.

There were a few Swallow-Tailed Kites in attendance, including this adult.

This is an adult Mississippi Kite.

This is my first time seeing a juvenile Mississippi Kite, which was really striking in person.

An annual favorite is this leucistic adult male Red-Tailed Hawk. I've posted photos of him before, but had to share more again as he's so unique. 

Upcoming: Part 2

Dinner with Charlie the Red-Tailed Hawk

On a recent visit to Tompkins Square, I found resident male Red-Tailed Hawk, Charlie.

He was calmly perched in a tree when a squirrel came along to taunt him.

I soon realized Charlie had been perched on that particular branch because there was a dead pigeon on the ground below, presumably dropped by him just before I arrived. He soon came down to retrieve it.

You can see he still has bright yellowish eyes, indicating he's young. His eyes will darken with age.

After looking around a few seconds, Charlie flew the pigeon to a tree where he could safely eat it.

After eating his fill, he took the leftovers to another tree and called to Amelia.

Seeing her in another tree, he flew the pigeon to her.

Amelia was hidden in thick branches, so I couldn't get a photo of her accepting dinner. Instead, I stuck with Charlie who perched in a nearby tree, soaking in the sun on this cold day.

Eventually, he took off and soared away...

Red-Shouldered Hawk in the neighborhood

There has been an immature Red-Shouldered Hawk hanging around the neighborhood.

It seems to avoid Tompkins Square Park, territory of the resident Red-Tails, and has scoped out an area where it is finding success hunting pigeons and rats.

If there is prey readily available, a hawk may camp out for several days or weeks.

In the photo below, you can see the heat waves coming out of the chimney where the hawk was perched. I can't help but wonder if the hawk was taking advantage of warm chimneys on this extremely cold day.

Red-Shouldered Hawks are not that rare, but we don't see many of them in the city, so it was exciting to see this one making a living in this area. I hope it sticks around for the remainder of winter.