• Hand-signed by the artist,
• 10 x 14″ image area 12 x 16″ trim
• (unmatted, but mats to 14 x 18),
• foam-core backed and bagged.

This painting from 1991 I believe was inspired by a minor incident in the life of two hawks that I had just witnessed at Northfork Access of the Skagit Wildlife Area up by Conway and La Conner. A Rough-legged Hawk was sitting on a post minding its own business when a juvenile female Northern Harrier came along and deviated from its path a little bit to make a pass at the Harrier. It wasn’t a serious pass–the Rough-leg was not in mortal danger–but she lifted off her perch just to stay on the safe side.  Both birds are “designed” to not need perches in their hunting style, and thus are well-suited to hunt over treeless areas: large marshes, plains and tundra. The Rough-leg is a bird of the Northland and is known for often hovering. It’s major prey on the breeding grounds is Lemming and since Lemmings have bad eyesight,  they don’t notice a hawk 20 feet above them hovering. Red-tailed Hawks, on the other hand, are a bit heavier and they hover but not as much.  Their prey includes Cottontails who would never abide by a big hawk hovering 20 feet above them.