No Fear

Lumix G5, Lumix 100-300mm

Sometimes, good things happen when you least expect it. I often see Red-tailed Hawks at Golden Gate Park and I've always wanted to get some pictures of them there. The last few times that I tried, however, I didn't see them at all. Yesterday, I went out to the park with the intention of shooting pictures for our Fog/Mist project. After I was done with that, I continued to walk and ended up photographing a Great Blue Heron at a small lake. While I was doing that, a woman walked up to me and told me about an owl just a little ways up the road. She said that her dogs walked right up to it, and it didn't move at all. When she took me to it, I discovered that it wasn't an owl, but it was actually a young Red-tailed Hawk perched on a 2 ft. high rock!

I started off by taking pictures of it from afar, around 40 feet away our so. I kept walking closer and closer, and the hawk remained calm. It simply sat on its perch and calmly continued to scan the area (for food). It seemed to have no fear of humans (or much else for that matter). While I was there, it spotted something come out of a nearby bush, and it immediately swooped over to it, caught it, and ate it. After it finished its small meal, it went back to its hunting perch and resumed scanning. I worked my way to within 10 feet of it! I could have stayed there all day with it. This is one of the most amazing raptor experiences for me that I've ever had, and it is something that I've always hoped for.

I chose to post this picture first because I liked its expression, which shows its fierce, predatory appearance as it scanned the area. You can see that its beak is still bloody and messy from the recent meal.

--Warren