Within a three-minute time span I took the photo above, passed by the church, then turned around to check to see if a hawk may be perched on the cross. There was Bobby, freshly-arrived on the scene. He must have landed at the base of the cross right when I was passing by. I just love moments like that!
As soon as Bobby showed up, the little birds scattered.
Violet makes a surprise appearance in the trees:
She had a little trouble balancing at one point:
Bobby was in a tree well within sight of Violet. They were soon in full hunting mode:
Bobby scans for prey first:
Violet was a little more relaxed at the moment:
Bobby:
Violet:
Squirrel and Violet:
Bobby:
Violet looking back at Bobby who was in a nearby tree:
Squirrel and Bobby:
Violet in flight to another tree:
Bobby:
A squirrel had harassed him so he hopped toward it with wings semi-outstretched. It’s funny how in this shot his posture nearly mirrors the lamp post top in the foreground:
Violet:
Bobby:
Bobby and Violet caught rats at almost the same time. She flew to the ground and stayed there for a bit. Within a few seconds, Bobby flew from his tree to the ground then came up with a rat and flew north with it. As he was flying away, Violet surfaced with her prey and flew to a tree on the south side of the park. Since I didn’t want to miss where Violet was going to go next, I did not follow Bobby to watch what I heard was a rather good feasting scene.
Bobby flying north with his catch:
Violet flying south with her catch:
Violet balancing on one leg:
Yet another squirrel:
Unfortunately, her footing was not very stable because of her injured leg and she dropped her catch. I am hoping she dropped the meal on purpose to retrieve later but she did scan the ground below her for a while as if in effort to find what she had dropped:
Violet flew from tree to tree but I lost sight of her at the last tree she flew into. It became dark and she still hadn’t left the tree so I assume she stayed in that tree for the night. I returned to where Bobby was last being watched and took this parting shot:
He did not go to the night roost but stayed in his tree as well. It was a great couple of hours in Bobby and Violet’s company!