Hawk, hawk, baby!

This amazingly stunning Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) landed on our deck.  He was screeching his head off for at least 15 minutes while sitting on the deck rail.  Even though this is a juvenile Red-tailed, it was huge!  The difference between adult and juvenile are the markings.  A juvenile Red-tailed hawk has a dull brown tail with mottled white shoulders and a shorter tail. This hawk stopped by looking to make a snack out of the birds at our bird feeder but he was unsuccessful.  We were just watching him through the window trying to be quite.  I took all of these pics through a window screen so the pics do not do him justice.  The coloration on this bird is magnificent!

This is his just-landed pic.

In the next two pics, you will notice his mouth is open.  That is because he was screeching like crazy.  I have no idea how he thought he was going to get a bird snack making all that noise.

He caught us watching through the window and is staring intensely our way.

He is still looking our way or maybe he is just posing.

Looking down below to see if lunch is there.

Still looking for food.

Pre-takeoff pose.

The few pics that follow this one are just for fun.  When I knew he was about to fly away, I took a tumble trying to catch him in flight.  The results, not so good!

In flight!

There he goes!

Back up to the tree he hangs out in.

This was just so darn exciting!  I guess you have to be a bird-lover to appreciate this.