common_nature | Low Flying Hawk

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common_nature

I was coming home a few months ago when I was startled not only to see a low flying hawk but it almost hit the car. The first photo is of it flying away and not great quality but I included it to demonstrate how low it was flying -- just a few feet above the road.

As it happens it landed at the entrance to our neighborhood, so I was able to stop the car and take some photos. It had caught a squirrel though I can't make it out in these pics.

Another two pictures of the hawk, as it was preparing to fly off. One could see its catch in the bottom picture.

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From:

shirebound

What an interesting sighting.

Poor squirrel. :(

From:

yourlibrarian

Yeah it was circle of life for him/her alright.

From:

aurumcalendula

Neat!

From:

yourlibrarian

Yup!

From:

pauraque

I've noticed red-tailed hawks seem prone to flying quite low over traffic, which does make them easier to spot though it can be startling! Nice sighting.

From:

yourlibrarian

I've never seen one particularly close to roads or cars, but I'm guessing this one was more weighed down by the squirrel than you'd think.

From:

redbird

A red-tailed hawk once decided that the fire escape outside my kitchen window was a good place to eat its dinner. That was a top-floor apartment, looking out on a parking lot. We watched quietly through the kitchen window, and it seemed unfazed by this.

Manhattan is a better place for bird-watching than a lot of people think.

From:

yourlibrarian

Apparently!

From:

cmcmck

It's sparrowhawks that tend to play such games here.

From:

yourlibrarian

Normally I've seen the hawks in the distance when they're flying around, but this one definitely made an entrance.

From:

senmut

Gorgeous

From:

yourlibrarian

They're impressive looking!

From:

linky

Such an impressive bird! I'm always blown away by how big they are.

From:

yourlibrarian

I do wonder what's the largest animal they could carry.

From:

full_metal_ox

There’s a viral amateur video of (I think) a redtail slowly throttling and then carrying off a domestic cat (the narrator identifies the site as “the 5800 block of Roosevelt”, placing the incident in urban Philadelphia. He does nothing to intervene, but points out an obvious lesson: “Bet you put a leash on the next one.”) Let the summary serve as content warning; also expect a lot of profanity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLtIuKaaF4M

From:

yourlibrarian

Wow, that's a lot heavier than I'd think.

From:

full_metal_ox

The weight of the prey, or of the narrative?

From:

yourlibrarian

Haha, I was thinking of the prey but I guess it could go both ways

From:

dhampyresa

Wow, it looks so cool!

From:

yourlibrarian

It was amazing to catch it in pictures!

From:

iddewes

Beautiful bird! We get a lot of birds of prey around where I live (near fields and woods, in Germany) but I don’t think I have had one close enough to photograph.