Close Encounter

I had an amazingly close encounter with a Red-tailed Hawk a few days ago when I was driving on the expressway. These hawks often hunt along the interstate - the short grass on the margins and the medians allows them to see their prey, and they often sit on the light poles to survey things, or soar overhead. As I was driving along, a hawk caught something and flew up in front of me just as I drove past. It was weighed down by what it had caught, and barely cleared my hood and windshield - I was very close to hitting it but didn't have a chance to react. I got a very close view of the bird and could see it had prey hanging down from its talons, but couldn't see what the prey was. I'm glad I got to see it, but it was a little too close for comfort!