I was nearing the end of an afternoon trail walk in Chagrin River Park. More than happy with the images I had collected on my memory card, I was ready to head for home when a large hawk, perched on a fence post just off the trail, caught my attention.
It must be a decoy, I thought to myself. I had heard other people talking about the hawk they had seen along the trail, but I hadn’t been lucky enough to spot him, so I didn’t believe my eyes until his head moved, and I realized it really was a hawk, a very large one! Lifting my camera, I began shooting frame after frame, while any minute expecting him to fly away.
Instead, he spread his wings, rose a few feet into the air and plummeted into the gully next to the post where he had been perched.
After a short skirmish, with a small field mouse gripped tightly in his talons, he returned to his perch to enjoy his lunch.
If your sympathy lies with the little mouse, you will probably agree that nature isn’t always pretty because the field mouse didn’t have any hope of surviving his encounter with the redtailed hawk. The hawk, on the other hand, was happy to capture a meal and survive for another day of hunting.
That’s it for today. Although I actually have more pictures of this encounter, I decided not to post the most graphic parts of the sequence.
I’ll be back soon with another post, one that I promise will be more cheerful! I hope you will join me then.
SEEN ALONG THE TRAIL 
Great pictures of the Hawk. It’s not often we get chances for a great photo opp. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks, Kathy. You are so right about not getting this kind of opportunity often. I was thrilled (to put it mildly)!
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Incredible photography, Skip! Nature is beautiful!
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Thanks, Terri. That was such an exciting experience, one that will keep me coming back again and again.
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Hi Skip
What an amazing experience this must have been– raptors are wonderful birds–so powerful. A Happy New Year to you and yours filled with Love and Peace.
I’ve left blipfoto now, but will keep in touch here.
Beryl AKA
BB x
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Hi Beryl. It’s great to hear from you and good to know we can keep in touch. Are you posting anywhere that I can visit and touch base with you? I would like that if it were possible. The hawk experience was almost surreal. I’ve never seen anything like it. ~Skip
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Wow! That last picture is amazing!
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Thanks, Kathy. Watching that hawk was an amazing (albeit rather gory) experience.
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these are amazing! and, mercifully, not terribly gruesome 🙂
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Thank you, Carrie. I was merciful and didn’t post a couple of the most gruesome ones.
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amazing shots!
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Thank you. It was an amazing, and totally unexpected, experience.
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