Hawk Attack ...

I was out gardening and decided to take a break and sit down, As I sat there, I watched a squirrel come in close and climb my rose trellis ( He was about 4 or 5 ft away) It was odd, because he stopped there and made all kinds of little minute chatter, and then he went the rest of the way up the trellis, Onto the patio canopy, And down to go onto the other side of the fence , Where he was on the left side of me ( About 8-10 ft away now) And then.........................BOOM!!! In flew a redtail hawk and picked him off!! The hawk looked huge being so close and having his wings spread open!!! He took the squirrel up into a huge oak tree where he sat with it for a short while before he flew off with it ... I tried to get a few photos, But, He was a ways off and up a ways in the tree and I kinda rushed at the photos because I expected him to take off at any moment, But, Got a few shots anyway, It was quite the experience seeing him that close though it was only a matter of seconds that he flew in a took the squirrel! I did feel bad for the squirrel, But, It is part of nature though sometimes disheartning.

pic2-

pic-3 ~

Nice shots Iris!! Yes their magnificent to see up close.

Yes they are! And Thanks pelletory!

Nice capture's Iris! Was that a Red Squirrel he got?

Thanks BF! No, It was a Grey squirrel

I'm surprised you even were able to get one photo.

Once you hear the sound of the hawk's wings coming at you, you'll never forget it. You're right about it looking so much larger.

WOW -- too cool!! I've only ever had one RedTail zoom through my yard, and his wingspan seemed HUGE. I wish your hawk would come in my neighborhood and pick off a few squirrels. Thanks for sharing your experience and photos.

Carla

ducbucln, It actually came from behind me, My small patio is behind my house and he came up from the front
yard somewhere and swooped in between my nieghbors home and mine, I think thats why he attacked the squirrel with me being there, He didn't see me untill he was doing the actual attack, To which is was all over in a few seconds. Then surprisingly, He flew to the back of the backyard trees which is about 100 ft away. I ran in to get my camera and thought for sure he would fly off when he seen me bringing it out, But, He didn't, He stayed for a short period. Even in the tree, He seemed so huge, If you look at his claws on the the squirrels body, It gives yo an idea of how huge he was, But, seeing him as close as I did, He sure looked a whole lot bigger!!

Loonie1, Your Welcome! I know he will be back, There are a lot of squirrels here, And once they know where a food source is, They stick around. We have an Albino hawk that comes around alot, ( I call him WhiteHawk) I didn't think he would survive long being the color that he is, But, He has been around for 3 years and he looks like he's doing good!
Heres a photo of him with his capture.

AWESOME!!!!!!!! I can't even imagine how cool that had to be even tho I have seen hawks pretty close out here.

Great job on the pics!

Nanny, It was an experience I will never forget!! And Thanks!!