interesting backstory to this photo…

passing by my living room window, something caught my eye.  I initially thought it was an owl sitting on the overhead wires directly in front of my house.  Looking more closely, I saw it was a hawk.  It was intently looking down into the wooded area.  I gathered my kids and Raja with his camera and over the next hour we experienced firsthand an episode right out of NatGeo.

The hawk was intent on hunting a rabbit who was sheltering in the underbrush.  The rabbit would gather his courage and then make a run for it.  The hawk would swoop down in attempt to catch it but the rabbit invariably got itself to an unreachable spot.  The hawk was persistent…it did head-down dives, it did swooping runs with feet extended and talons out, it would frantically lookfor a landing spot after a run (hence its landing on the street sign at the end of our driveway).

After an hour, it seemed that the hawk ran out of steam and returned to its nest right across the street from us.  We keep our eyes peeled especially when our cat is outside.  Meantime, Raja got some beautiful shots of both the hawk and the rabbit.

I never cease to be amazed at the prolific array of wildlife that we see here on Harmon Drive.  Deer, crossing the street sometimes in groups.  Wild turkeys.  Hawks.  We always keep the camera ready!