Gabriel M. posts on YouTube:
I was parked in McDonald's parking lot in LOS ANGELES (Ladera Heights) drinking my coffee and this giant hawk came from nowhere and landed on my windshield. It's saw my baby kitten from who knows how far away, tried to atrack it through glass and wouldn't leave even as i drove away through the strip mall. Someone at the home depot nearby saw it on my hood as I was driving it around the strip mall said it was a pigeon hawk but i confirmed its actually a Red Tailed Hawk.
That sure is one frustrated hawk!
Lucky for the kitten that windscreen could stand up to the impact . . .
Peter
A mazing!
ReplyDeleteHoo boy, that reminds me of the three chicks I lost last year. Vanished. I searched for the poor things for half a day, thinking they'd escaped somehow, or the stray cats had gotten 'em. So I locked the remaining chicks in a cage for safety, and a half-hour later, heard a terrified ruckus. There was a very frustrated hawk attacking the cage, and thirteen very traumatized chicks in the opposite corner, all piled on top of one another.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'll be more careful about airborne predators next time we get chicks.
Wow, but why was there a kitten in the car?
ReplyDeleteSaw it on Irish's blog earlier.
ReplyDeletePeople miss something:
That hawk (nor any of its species fellows) didn't wake up that day and spontaneously decide to add kitten to its menu.
Like a child molester: He's been doing that since ever, and he's going to keep doing it every chance he gets.
I only wish someone could train the hawks to go after pigeons.
There simply aren't enough peregrine falcons hereabouts to do a proper job.
Impressive, but the shadows don't match. Also, look at the headlights in the rearview mirror. It's CGI.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few undeveloped areas nearby in Baldwin Hills where the oilfields used to be, so I'm not surprised the red-tailed hawk is at least around.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the other McDonalds in Ladera, on La Tijera, is one of the very first franchises. Unfortunately, their original shack, and the sign with Speed-e-Chef, was torn down and became the parking lot for a newer one that offered indoor seating. Over 60 Million Sold! (Just think, that's almost a whole side of beef!)
That's a Cooper's hawk. They get about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of a Red tail. They are wicked awesome at zooming through woods and ambushing unaware tweety birds.
ReplyDeleteI do realize that hawks gotta eat too, Mother Nature is an icy-hearted bitch, kill or be killed/eat or be eaten, all that jazz. Really, I get it. Still, I just can't help but say: HAAAA! SCREW you, hawk!
ReplyDeleteThere's a small tree right outside my kitchen window, in which for a while there we had a red-tail who liked to perch on one of the lower branches and peer in at us. One of my cats, Bunny, liked to sit on the counter by the window and watch that big, crazy bird out there staring in at us. Always enjoyed watching that little drama unfold.
None of my four cats have ever been allowed out of the house--out here in the country there's just too many ways for a cat to get killed, and I have no desire to have to explain to my daughter that one of her kittens got et or shot or run over or whatever--so for Bun it must be a real mystery as to what that...that...THING outside the window might be. Too funny.
As a hood mascot that beats the Spirit of Ecstasy.
ReplyDeleteWhy are birds of prey so beautiful when seen close up.
I have seen dead sparrow hawks and owls close up and the detail of colour and pattern on each individual feather is amazing. How does this help them survive and procreate?