Hawkish

The valley is getting very hawkish. The red tailed parents are taking turns minding the nest in the tall sycamore tree, preparing for this year's brood. I have seen a plethora of Cooper's hawks and kestrels in the Santa Margarita River valley of late. Everything is amping up for the advent of spring.

As I drove home the other day, I espied the red tailed hawk on the tall dead tree that acts as a de facto sentry in our valley.

I had my camera on my seat and took a few shots. Unfortunately my shutter speed was set for stationary objects and I could not quite grab the perfect picture on takeoff. But as a wise man once said (or should have said) damn the perfect, let's settle for the good. The Sigma zoom came through once again.

I got to the nest just in time to see the male hawk fly away.

We are less than a month away from hawk babies and it should be fun, like always!