Hawk fights and fancy ducks

Walking along a mosquio-infested trail at Baytown Nature Center, we flushed out a Red-Tailed Hawk. 

Two Red-Shouldered Hawks immediately objected to its new perch on top of shelter, which gave us a good view of the big Red-Tailed. The smaller hawks circled before one of them swooped down to strike the Red-Tailed.

The big hawk left the shelter to land atop a nearby tree. Again the Red-Shouldered Hawks circled and one attacked. The scene was repeated a third time.

Although the Red-Tailed was bigger, the two Red-Shouldered Hawks forced it to leave.

What a show! For a couple of minutes it made us forget the mosquito swarms. 

David Hanson led the group on its November bird count, which was on a duck hunt, of sorts.

Hood Merganser photo by the Hansons.

 I got a good look at the pretty Hooded Mergansers and Gadwalls.

David said:

I guess  two things jumped out today. First, this was the most Hooded Mergansers I have ever seen in one session and the lack of Doves. There were very few of any of the Dove species but especially White-winged Doves.

As a novice birder, here is one that I can identify: dead.

Here is a list of the 57 species spotted  
    
7    Gadwall
6    Northern Shoveler
17   Hooded Merganser
1    Red-breasted Merganser
9    Pied-billed Grebe
10   Neotropic Cormorant
9    Double-crested Cormorant
17   American White Pelican
16   Brown Pelican
8    Great Blue Heron
9    Great Egret
3    Snowy Egret
1    Green Heron
8    Black-crowned Night-Heron
1    Roseate Spoonbill
1    Black Vulture
2    Turkey Vulture
2    Osprey
1    Northern Harrier
1    Cooper's Hawk
2    Red-shouldered Hawk
2    Red-tailed Hawk
2    Clapper Rail
21   Killdeer
2    Spotted Sandpiper
46   Laughing Gull
1    Ring-billed Gull
1    Herring Gull
10   Forster's Tern
1    Royal Tern
10   White-winged Dove
3    Mourning Dove
5    Belted Kingfisher
4    Red-bellied Woodpecker
3    Downy Woodpecker
2    American Kestrel
2    Eastern Phoebe
5    Loggerhead Shrike
5    Blue Jay
3    Carolina Chickadee
2    Tufted Titmouse
2    House Wren
4    Marsh Wren
6    Carolina Wren
5    Ruby-crowned Kinglet
10   Northern Mockingbird
1    Pine Warbler
8    Yellow-rumped Warbler
1    Swamp Sparrow
2    White-throated Sparrow
2    White-crowned Sparrow
4    Northern Cardinal
6    Red-winged Blackbird
8    Great-tailed Grackle
6    Brown-headed Cowbird
2    American Goldfinch
6    House Sparrow