Hawk

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There were a pair of hawks nesting across the road from our house this past summer. Here is one of them. The other would rarely get close to the house. It seemed to prefer the tall trees near neighbor Andy's house. I caught this pic and forwarded it to my sister via email. The next day she replied, "Tony [my brother-in-law] spotted the rabbit." My thought was that he must have mistaken something, perhaps a bunch of tall grass, for a rabbit. But out of curiosity I brought up the photo and zoomed in. Sure enough there is a rabbit sitting below and 10 feet behind the hawk. I am still perplexed by the situation.

There was one just like that sitting on a wood sawhorse in my back yard Monday. What's up with there sudden boldness? Never seen one that low or close to the house here....?

Good question, TNRabbit. There was one a couple summers ago that would bathe and drink in the water puddled around our tomato plants when I was watering them. And I was working just 30 feet away. They seem to be getting more comfortable with us around.

That looks like a young Sharp-shinned Hawk, but since it was Summer, could have been a Broad-winged.
The Sharp catches birds in the air for a meal. The Broad eats small ground critters, that rabbit is a little large for him to go for.

I have Hawks around here all the time as I keep out a lot of bird food and that makes my place a baited field for them. I hate when they attack my birds, but Hawks need to eat also.

Hawks have been on the rise since shooting them became illegal. At one time some were nearly wiped out.

I haven't seen them take a bird, but I suspect that is what they are hunting for. Occasionally he will sit on top of two different bluebird houses. He also goes for ground critters, as I've seen him dive from the top of the outbuilding into the tall grass.

One of these days when I acquire a good camera I'll get you guys some awesome pictures of all the Red Tails I have around here.

@ years ago on the the OBX I caught a sighting of a Northern Harrier Hawk. Stunning!

Attachment 53 Northern Harrier

Red-shouldered Hawk caught with an old point and shoot camera - he is in the yard a lot.

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