Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Broad-Winged Hawk

I almost forgot about a hawk I saw yesterday just before our walk.  I spotted it fly through our backyard and land on a branch in a neighbor's tree.  I took some photos of it from quite a distance and never looked at them, not expecting much.

Surprise, surprise!  I actually got a fairly good one!


Broad-winged hawks have been nesting around our neighborhood for years.  And yes, for those of you who remember, the year their nest was close to our house, they dive-bombed me almost every time I gardened.  I could sometimes feel the wind from their wings move my hair (that's how close they came to me), and it really freaked me out.  We joked that I could wear a Dr. Seuss hat to fool them into thinking I was taller, or a hard hat for protection!  Our neighbor told us that they scratched his forehead with their talons one year when the nest was near his deck.  After I heard that, I did a lot of looking over my shoulder,  didn't do very much gardening, and was often running to safety in the house!

2 comments:

  1. Wow , that's amazing. I have never heard of the dive bombing a human. Did they think you were food or what?

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  2. Protecting its territory. It never dive-bombed my husband or my son. Just me. He always teased me that I was being a scaredy-cat, but....once I felt that breeze, there was just no way I could be brave!

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