Figure 1 – Red-tailed hawk looking for lunch, Belmont, MA, January 21, 2021. (c) DE Wolf 2021.

My friend has five bird feeders on her deck – ready to attract any kind of bird except, this time of year, hummingbirds. In a sense her deck represents a smorgasbord for the birds. Today there were suddenly non birds and no squirrels at the feeder. Even the ravenous starlings were gone. All was quiet except for the fellow of Figure 1, a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). He was there for his own smorgasbord!

So much discussion about long lenses for bird photography! All I had at the ready was my iPhone XS. But since the house acted as a bird blind, I was able to get quite close. In the immortal words of Louis Pasteur.

“Dans les champs de l’observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.”

“Chance favors the prepared mind!”