When one doesn’t have the chance to go birding as much as one would like, it is nice when the birds come to one.
During a heavy thunderstorm last week, Arthur called me to the window to watch a Red-shouldered Hawk feeding on something in our back yard. The bird was eating while standing completely exposed in the middle of the grass. It was soaked. After a few bites, the hawk grabbed hold of its meal, a rat, and flew to a post to finish the job.
OM NOM NOM
With not much remaining to the prey but fur and tail, the meal was finished and the Red-shouldered Hawk retreated to a nearby citrus tree.
I thought it might wait out the storm under the relative shelter of the tree, so I was surprised when the hawk took off and flew to an exposed perch, a metal bird feeder pole. There it remained for just a moment before taking off once again and leaving our yard.
Here’s a short video to give you an idea of the rate of rainfall during this encounter.
That’s a pretty hearty hawk, huh? Or perhaps just a hungry one.
