Drive by hawk...

I saw a hawk in a ditch on my way to work this morning. At first I thought it may have been injured, but when I stopped it hopped up onto a fence. I couldn't tell what it was trying to attack - all I could see was a tuft of grass, but maybe there was a mouse tangled up there. He sat on the fence and posed for me about 12 feet away.

I remember years ago it was a rare thing to see a hawk or any other bird of prey inside city limits. Now they're quite common, even bald eagles are being spotted from time to time. Vultures are very common...

This guy was pretty cool and relaxed...

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AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME
what a great experience...upclose and personal with a hawk. Best guess..maybe an immature Redtail hawk? Probably a rodent was the target . I had one occassion where one out paced my car and hit a squirrel in front of me... hit so hard they tumbled along the road infront of me.

Al

That is a gorgeous hawk Brian :D and what a amazing experience :D
Pat

It looks like a young Red Tail to me. Although there are several species around here, Red Tails are most common. It's was exciting though because we usually see them in the air circling, not on the side of the road engaged in the hunt.

There are quite a few hoot owls around here as well, but they are mostly active in the evening so pictures are hard to get. A couple of weeks ago I got strafed by one when it flew right over my head and tried hitting me with part of a dead animal carcass, lol... The rabbit population had dwindled as well...

I have no clue what type it is, but it does look very young to my eye.