Red Tailed Hawk

An incredible opportunity to photograph a Red Tailed Hawk up close presented itself one day right outside my house.

We live next to an abandoned building. Which works great for us to keep the neighbors to a minimum and works great for nature to have a pre-build home. There are pigeons, bees, wasps, mice, so many squirrels and cats.

My badass girlfriend was going to the store. (Without the kids. It was with the kids until the pandemic. Then she was delighted to have an excuse not to bring them when they whined to join her.) She text our oldest from the van "Tell Mike to get his camera". A Red Tailed Hawk was on the ground eating.

Even when she started the van and drove away, he stayed.

I tried to get a good shot from our bathroom window but the angle was wrong. So I went outside and crept closer.

Eventually I realized I could make as much noise as I wanted to. I was able to get within 10 feet of him.

I've always loved seeing red tailed hawks. My mom used to read Rufous the Red Tailed Hawk to me when I was little.

The next day the only thing we could see left from the pigeon was feathers, blood, and a symmetrical pile of bird seed. Which, I can only assume, were the pigeon's stomach contents.