Photo: Diane Edwardson, January 8, 2013. I heard an odd hawk call, with rustling in the tree near my back door, so grabbed my camera. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
This appears to be the same very large, young Red Tailed Hawk that several neighbors and I have seen engaging in the same types of hunting behavior lately. It doesn't have the patience to wait out the prey as long as the more experienced hunters do.
I watched as it made several ungainly, flappy attempts to catch something on the ground in the neighboring yard. Each time, it either took off from, or flew through a densely branched tree - not typical Red Tail behavior in this neighborhood. Unfortunately, the trees also obscured my view and I couldn't get clear photos of the action either. After several failures it flew off to the low branches of a Eucalyptus in the middle of the 2 Freeway.
