Red-Tailed Hawk

A pair of red-tailed hawks like to hang out on the lights over the highway exits near the building where I work. I sometimes see them as often as several times per week, most frequently in the morning, but occasionally in the afternoon too.

On this particular morning, one of the hawks was sitting on a light, staring at a group of rather nervous-looking pigeons gathered on a light nearby.

I've photographed these hawks before, at least twice by climbing out through the sunroof of my car to do it. (Please note that the car was stopped at the time.) The problem with photographing them otherwise is that as soon as you open the car door to get out for a photo, the hawk flies away.

But I discovered on this morning that if you have a good zoom on your camera and you stop under an underpass (or two) for pictures, the hawk barely notices you are there.

The song to accompany this image is a live version of John Denver's The Eagle and the Hawk. And perhaps you will marvel, as I did, at what a fine tenor voice John Denver had, and how on earth did he ever manage to hold those high notes like that?

Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountaintops.
Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars.
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future,
And all that we can be . . . and not what we are . . .