Look closely. Do you see him? A little guy in a red and black striped turtleneck with black, horn-rimmed glasses somewhere in the picture. No, it's not a Waldo excursion. It's a hunt for the elusive red-tailed hawk. I went this afternoon to do some shots of the cemetery with the dusting of snow on the markers and a great opportunity literally fell from the sky into my lap. Driving around, taking a couple of shots of interesting head stones, I heard some rustling in the trees above. Looking up, I saw a red-tailed hawk preying on a couple of wayward squirrels playing games on the tree trunks. It kept moving from tree to tree as the squirrels were a little too savvy for him, wrapping around the trees quickly so the hawk wouldn't see them. I stood there, shivering in the chilly weather as I forgot to dress for the outing, watching this game being played in front of me for about 30 minutes. As soon as the hawk would position itself in the right place, the squirrels would quickly change course and confuse him. Back and forth they went, which allowed me to do a lot of picture taking.
What intrigued me about this picture is that his feathers disguise him well in the trees. I had a few shots that didn't have his head the right way, making him a lot harder to see. This one, I believe, shows his expression clearly. It's almost as if I could hear him thinking that these squirrels better mess up soon so that he can stop working so darn hard to eat a well-deserved lunch.
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