I went out for a short stroll this afternoon, but I didn’t make it very far past the front door. Right on the street in front of the house, there was quite a bit of bird sound, and I was having a very hard time finding any of the birds. There was also a high squeal that I didn’t recognize, and then things fell fairly silent. I turned around and there on a low phone line (of course backlit against overcast so very challenging to photograph), was a tiny raptor, a Sharp-shinned Hawk.
It was staring intently at the ground and the small trees in front of it. I was able to take a series of (bad) photos, and then a car came by, so I figured it would fly away. And I was right–sort of. The bird actually used the distraction of the car to launch an attack on the birds in the tree in front of it, and lo and behold, it emerged successfully with dinner in its talons.
Beautiful photos!! I saw one today at my house while sitting out in the sun