Magnificent Bird

I grew up in California and my dad loved to collect interesting animals. We had a bobcat for a couple of years, and he was always catching snakes and tarantulas where he worked. And we had a hawk for a while, a Red-tailed hawk even.


So it's been fun seeing one around our streets occasionally. I've not gotten really close until the other day, and the photo here was taken by someone else and I've swiped it off the internet. (The one taken by cellphone is just too small to be post-worthy.) And really, I can't be certain what kind of hawk it was, except it's fairly large and colored much like the one in the photo.



Yesterday during our morning walk, the hawk WAS very close. Nichole and I stopped on the corner ready to part ways, and looked up and there he was on the street light, surveying the yards and golf course. One mile away are a few scrubby fields, I'm sure I've seen him over there, so I was surprised he's hanging out in our 'burbs where dogs and cats far outnumber the little rodents one would think a hawk would be hunting.



While Nichole and I were gaping at him, wondering how big he really was, and how large his wingspan might be, he took off behind a house, chasing some birds. A second later the birds and he came up over the roof and he landed on a lampost nearly right over our heads!! It was so impressive, we got to see his full wingspan! He sat there, eyeing 6 Grackles that were sitting across the street on a matching street light.... they seemed to be nervously watching him. Just then a woodpecker came near, circling the hawk up high on that perch. And sort of screeching at him as he flew a full circle around him, maybe only 6 feet away! We have several woodpeckers (we see them pecking away at the stupidest things like stucco walls, metal lampposts and house vents) so maybe this one was asserting his territory toward the larger bird. (Good luck with THAT!)




Anyway, just as we realized Nichole had her phone and could actually take a decent photo, he swooped off after the grackles and they all flew away out of view.




Impressive sight! We were up close and personal with such a beautiful bird. I'm not 100% certain he is a red-tailed, I didn't pay attention to the tail to see.



And I hope he stays around. Perhaps between him (or her) and the large resident owl we've seen around, the roof-rat population will be kept in check. I don't want THAT kind of visitor again!