Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) Protecting His Meal, Rockaway Beach, Pacifica, California

Photo ID# RW127

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I had been shooting the typical sunset shots from the edge of a cliffside for 20 minutes when an elderly couple down below on the beach were screaming for my attention. Little did I know to my left about 12-15 feet away was this large bird devouring a dove.

I got down on my knees and approached methodically over a ten minute period before I realized the bird had already accepted my presence. It kept eating as I crept closer to eventually almost within spitting distance. Of course I was nervous, not knowing if it would turn on me or keep allowing my presence. Luckily it was the latter.

The problem I had technically was my shutter speed was getting too slow due to the fading light so I had to increase my ISO, shoot wide open and pop some on-camera fill-flash to create some light in the bird's eye. Then luck would have it I ran out of batteries so I crept backwards to a higher spot to avoid possibly getting attacked while digging through my bag for batteries.

After I changed batteries, I crept back to a close position and resumed shooting til he finished eating. The bird eventually flew off and left the carcass behind. I was told later by several fishermen down at the beach that the bird had stopped eating while I was out of sight changing batteries to walk up the hill slightly to look for me. The bird supposedly resumed eating just as I returned. He definetely was putting on a show.

Back at my car, they fishermen tried to flatter me by saying I was going to make it into National Geographic and etc then asked me to make them some autographed prints.