Patience Pays Off

As I sat eating my breakfast looking out the kitchen window to the east I saw a large bird fly by.  I went into the backyard and could see that it was a hawk sitting in the neighbor's tree.  Although not expecting much I went back inside to get my camera and then came back outside hoping that he would fly nearby again and that I might get a picture.  After waiting for about 10 minutes the hawk swooped out of the tree down the hill behind my house. He hit something hard but I could not see what it was over the bushes down the bank.  A moment later I saw his head pop up above the bushes about 40 yards away.  I walked out my front door and down the road behind my house.  From the road I could see the hawk sitting in a small clearing in the brush and he had grabbed himself some breakfast as well.  There is a dirt access road that runs right up to where he was sitting so I decided to walk down to it and slowly inch my way up to get as close as I could while snapping pictures before scaring him off.  Before long I was within 5 feet of this bird and getting some fabulous shots, including the one I used here for my model.  He was not about to give up his meal for a mere human.  More in the next post...