So I’m headed to HCH, and its hot out, and I’m making a beeline to my car in the lot.  I’m cutting across the grass along the side of the building and I hear a dull bump, like something hit the wall. I look over and I think a duck’s flown into the side of the building or something.

But it wasn’t a duck, it was a hawk! It had stooped on a ground squirrel and after a moment it flew right across the path in front of me and up into a tree near the handicapped parking spots. I walked on over into the lot and watched it for a while, wishing I had that zoom on my iPhone already. It was just sitting there clutching the mouse and ducking each time a couple of bluejays dived on its head. They weren’t able to convince it to move on so they eventually gave up and roosted on a lamp post overlooking the tree.  There were already 6 little black starlings on that lamp and they gave space begrudgingly.

I jumped onto a bird siting website, and my best guess is that its a red-tailed hawk.

Now that I’ve seen one, I’m surprised I havent’ before, there’s so much food here for a raptor to eat, you’d think we’d have nests on the dome or something!

neat!

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/41/_/Red-tailed_Hawk.aspx