Bird Watching: 2008 Backyard Bird Count Plus Photo Contest, 1 by Elphaba

Elphaba wrote:
This morning, I sat out in my neighbor's front yard in my pajamas taking 130 photos of a hawk sitting in a tree. I don't know why b/c I don't need to win the contest. I don't need binoculars. Apparently, I do need a new camera, b/c none of my shots turned out! Here's one of the less blurry ones b/c I feel the need to share. Also, I'm having trouble with ID. He was huge. Picture doesn't do him justice. He looked really large in flight. Seems to have thin black bands on tail (there's a shadow on the tail in the pic) but definitely to large to be a Cooper's Hawk and flew more like a red-tail. Could be Broad-winged or Red-shouldered, but seems to light underneath? When I saw him flying, I thought he was a red-tailed hawk.