hawk dinner

[silverflight8]

I went birding today and saw a bunch of birds (I think about 15-20 species across 3 locations) but to cap everything off, while I was standing in this parking lot in the city center I saw this big red-tailed hawk. There was a ton of robins constantly calling and harassing it, which is what alerted me, so I went and watched it for a bit. Then while I was watching it sit in the tree, it suddenly swooped past me and caught a baby bunny as it tried to dive for cover.

The hawk didn't seem to care I was there, and brought it over to the fence real close to me, so I got a good shot.




I don't think it was dead at this stage, it kept twitching. Poor bunny.

I feel a little bad for the bunny but mostly, admiration for the hawk. It was so fast, it was all over in a second. That's basically a bucket list item for me! I still want to see a hawk catch a bird on the wing, but this is already amazing.

Comments

[superbadgirl]

A little bad? I know it's the circle of life, but :( :( :(. Ignoring the dangling prey, that's a good shot.

[silverflight8]

Yeah, a little bad. I know that hawks are vicious predators and I like them for it, haha.

The world has no shortage of rabbits

[ed_rex]

Forgive me my cold, cold heart, but I am with you in admiring the hawk more than in empathizing with the bunny. More, I'm glad you got that photo!

Re: The world has no shortage of rabbits

[silverflight8]

It was a good lucky shot! The more time I spend outside looking, the more I see. :D

[sideways]

Oh that's an AMAZING pic! You'd think it would be more defensive with a meal in hand, but I guess it figured you weren't about to rob it?

[silverflight8]

Thank you!

I was surprised too, I expected it to fly off into a tree immediately. But hawk is right. I cannot catch rabbits with my bare hands. It was safe from me. LOL

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is amazing! What a shot...and lol, I don't think I will ever see a red-tailed hawk and not think Tobias from Animorphs. :P

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

I was super lucky!

Ah I never did read Animorphs though I was definitely aware of them as a kid :P I osmosed that they are books where you can shapeshift? I'd love to be able to shapeshift into a red-tailed hawk!

[hamsterwoman]

Poor bunny... but oh man, what an amazing photo!

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And great icon :D

[hamsterwoman]

Thanks! :D

(I usually don't edit a comment just to fix an icon, but my hand slipped and picked the wrong poetry one, so I had to go back and fix it :)