Red-Tail Hawk - June 19, 2005
large photos - full screen mode (F11 in IE) is nice....
I kept expecting this handsome bird (on a wire across the street) to fly away as I inched closer,
but it didn't seem to mind me. It frequently scratched its head, hence the raised claw.
I don't think it was injured, but it was acting a little strangely.
I guess owls aren't the only ones who can do this trick: 
Hmmm?
What are YOU looking at?
Closer of above:
A nearby bird (either a catbird or mockingbird) threw in a hawk "screetch" every now and then,
which almost always got an answer from the real thing. "Hey, that's MY call!"
The hawk seemed to notice something on the grass below:
closer of above:
Sure enough! (S)he pecked around a couple of times but didn't get anything that I could see.
After a minute it gave up and turned away from me. Notice the puffed-up leg feathers.
I think I was just mooned by a hawk.
"Harumph." A hawk walking isn't the most graceful thing you'll ever see.
It flew back up onto the wire in a different spot:
Yep, the other mimic was still at it:
After this shot it had finally had enough and flew off.
We frequently see 1 or sometimes 2 of these big guys gliding around over our neighborhood.