A fast but fun encounter with this cool, female yesterday. She was patrolling the rural roads of eastern Colorado and flew right by me.
These hawks are quite common here, particularly during the winter. They are, however, not easy to get pics of as they fly fast and low in very erratic patterns.
That owl-like face of theirs serves a purpose in that it focuses sound to their ears as they fly. This allows them to hear their prey in the brush below, sometimes before they even see it.
