Bird of Prey

I was in our living room and saw a flash go by the window that was something larger than usual. I looked outside and saw this hawk had captured the dove right out the back door. It tried to fly away, but I suspect it was too heavy so it landed on a chair back, then on the fence separating our neighbor, then to the ground at the back of the yard…all the time holding the dove.

Here it continued to do its thing and ate on the dove. apparently until it was light enough to fly away. I did get lots of shots of the process but thought it a little too descriptive and gruesome to show the detail here. I did like this shot with the feather in its beak. Nothing went to waste, as the next morning the feathers were totally gone, I’m sure a source of nice cushiony materials for all the nests being built in the area.

There are lots of hawks around. A couple years ago I saw a hawk that had captured a dove or gila woodpecker on the roof of our neighbors house. Also woke up to a pile of feathers on the cal-du-sac off our driveway later in the year.

-Ed Dahlberg