Yesterday at work Cliff Curley called me around 4:00pm to say, “Come right now!  Your hawk is on the ground by the loading dock eating a rabbit!”

By the time I got there she had created quite a stir.  (I could tell it was the female because she has a much paler head than her mate.)  According to all accounts, she was perched on our roof for quite a while, staring at the hillside behind the dumpsters.  When no one was watching – and certainly not the rabbit- she flew down and pounced.  Dinner!

Surprisingly, none of us had a good camera available but Kelly Foreman snapped this picture with her small one.  In the original wider photo, the hawk and rabbit both blend into the background so well you can hardly see them.  Obviously, this is how they avoid detection – the hunter and the hunted.

Our lady hawk has been very busy these past few days.  Not only is she eating well but she has been courting with her mate and building a nest.  Three times I’ve seen her fly past my window carrying sticks in her beak to some unknown place nearby.  I’ll love to know where that place is.  I’m sure she’ll keep it a secret as long as possible.