Do Hawks Hunt at Night, are they attracted to light?
In another thread I mentioned that I shoot soccer a lot, and mostly at night (SW Florida, day games tend to have poor attendance in the summer).
I've noticed at most matches there's a large bird which at least once or twice flies across the field, usually just above the lights or dipping into the light pool. At least a couple times I've seen it land on the lights themselves. He is always moving from near the field on one side to near it on the other, not just passing over, so he's either drawn to the light (but not into it), or this is his normal area. There is a fair amount of both fields and swamps around the area. I only see him after full dark; the games usually start a bit before sunset, I never see anything like him until it's stars-out type dark.
I've never been able to get a shot of him, he flies fairly quickly. He seems big. It is not a bat (we have some of those, some big ones at our baseball field), he flies like a hunter (long glides, strong wing beats), not a wading bird. I've never gotten a good look at the head, I usually see him flying away from me.
I thought owl.
Today in a day game (one of the few), I happened to notice these two sitting in a tree. This is a tiny, tiny, tiny crop from an under-exposed image, but they are clearly not owls.
But I didn't think Hawks moved around much at night. Could it be them?
Or is it more likely an owl?
Sadly this was the last home soccer game. Not sure if whatever it is will show up for softball or baseball later in the year.
Any guesses what I'm seeing at night?
PS. This is just posted for grins, not because it is a good shot. Though I'm pretty surprised that poorly exposed tight crop is even recognizable.
http://www.captivephotons.com/Events...-%20005-X3.jpg