I’ve seen a juvenile Red-tail in my neighborhood a few times over the last several days but today was the first time I had my camera with me to capture a sighting.
It was hunting a flock of pigeons that reside on the block. I saw the Hawk land on a building to rest so I rushed home, grabbed my camera, then followed it around for the next 45 minutes or so:
Pigeons would land near it sometimes:
Scratch:
The flock descending on fresh bread someone had thrown down for them:
The Hawk looked very interested in the gathered pigeons. It wasn’t long until it dove toward them:
The flock panicked and scattered then circled above. I looked all around for the Hawk but couldn’t see it anywhere!
All of a sudden I noticed movement in the tree next to me and was shocked to see it so close. It wasn’t on a high branch at all so it was clear it doesn’t have much fear of humans.
Its thin legs and ankles make me think it’s a male (females have thicker ankles):
He hopscotched to a couple of new perches before circling high above the streets, chasing a different pigeon flock:
He then tucked in like a bullet and dove into a new patch of trees a few blocks away.
I was happy to see he was still in his tree by the time I got close enough to take more pics:
It was quite cold and blustery. A strong gust came and it might have inspired him to get some lift because away he went again:
He made a steep dive again but I lost him for good that time.