
This morning I headed up to the Sullivan Grasslands to see what might be happening. I hadn’t been up since last week and thought perhaps things had changed some. It was a cold, windy, blustery day with frequent snow squalls. That seemed to keep most of the passerines hunkered down and few were seen. Hawks however were taking advantage of the winds and out hunting. When I reached Radio Tower Road I spotted a hawk in the distance that looked dark. Fortunately (as some hawks have recently!) the bird flew right in my direction. As it got closer, it dove down into the second field away, catching some sort of prey. Though I couldn’t get a look at that distance, the hawk tore it into three pieces, each of which it swallowed. It then took off and was dived on by a Red-tailed Hawk. I was able to move somewhat closer and got some shots of the bird. This is my favorite hawk that regularly occurs in our area so I was really happy to see it! Otherwise, it was rather quiet.
