This Red-shouldered had perfect timing.
Ellen, a friend, and I, were driving over a dirt causeway that separates a large marsh and a ghost forest (dead trees) when I spotted a Hawk on the other side. I yelled to ‘stop’ and pointed him out, we slowed to a crawl hoping to get close enough to bail from the car for a shot. Almost there and…it was a broken limb. My mistake, etc.
Suddenly…on que this Hawk flew right past us and landed on a snag.
We got out and grabbed a few photographs.
The other ‘hawk’ was forgotten, and the jokes at my expense too.
Note; A ghost forest is a real forest that has died, gone to bones of dead trees still standing. The usual culprit is salt water that has seeped into an underground aquifer. There are plenty of salt marshes right there, however several miles away. If it was salt that’s a bad sign. We are close to sea level here.
Interesting, never hear of a ghost forest before (beyond the Japanese suicide forest, but that is an entirely different story)
Getting more and more common on the coast. Rising sea level pushes salt under ground, eventually reaching the fresh water under ground aquifers. The marsh eventually turns brackish and forest trees die off.