Bird Hawk

Drama in the garden today. I opened the back door just as a swarm of panicked birds flew at me, deviating to avoid flying into the glass door at the last moment. Before I could get my camera to my eye, this hawk came swooping out of the trees and landed right on the arm of the bird feeder.

We have a lot of hawks here, but most of them don't prey on birds, so I think this one is either a goshawk or a sharp shinned hawk, probably a juvenile. Do correct me if I'm wrong. The birds in my excellent bird book all look the same!

There were several pitched battles with woodpeckers screaming from the trees and small birds diving for the safety of the shrubs as the hawk sat motionless on a low branch staring down with it's piercing light colored eyes, and then hurled itself headlong into the bushes. I don't think it caught anything, and I was intrigued at how canny some of the little birds were. The hawk finally flew to a higher branch and preened it's strikingly patterned wings* before flying off to better hunting grounds.

It's hard work catching birds. I'd prefer it concentrated on ground squirrels....

*extra