stephendorey's Favorites

Amazing encounter between a hawk and a squirrel at my home. Please scroll thru the shots to see the squirrel this observation is for. Needed to keep the story in order. Did one for the hawk already.

Photo 1:
All of the action in this 16 part story took place in 4 minutes in very low light at the furthest away from my window part of my front yard. I happened to glance out and saw the mature cooper's hawk on my fence and thought I'd take a few shots. Here it is calmly perched with one foot tucked up for warmth. The time was 4:49pm on a cloudy day.
Photo 2:
When the hawk looked down I checked and there was a squirrel feeding on the ground. The birds were all in hiding. I was not worried, the cooper's usually take white-winged doves for their prey at my home and the squirrels simply leave when they notice a hawk. Time stamp still says 4:49pm.
Photo 3:
I was focused on the hawk and when it turned its gaze in this direction, I just figured it was looking for prey. I later realized that the squirrel had spotted the hawk and was making its way to the fence towards it. This time stamp says 4:51pm.
Photo 4:
It was at this point that I realized what was going on and pulled my camera back to include more of the area so the squirrel could be seen. It had climbed the fence and seemed to be advancing on the hawk. I thought for sure the squirrel was a goner and lacking in intelligence. Time stamp still says 4:51.
Photo 5:
I was holding my breath as the squirrel continued to go towards the hawk. Time stamp still says 4:51.
Photo 6:
The squirrel has the full attention of the hawk and continues to advance. Mind you, this is a mature hawk, not an inexperienced juvenile. Time stamp still says 4:51.
Photo 7:
This part happened so fast I only caught a glimpse of the action. The hawk is completely in the air and off the fence like it was trying to pounce on the squirrel. You can just see the end of the squirrels tail as it leaped on the roof. Time stamp says 4:52.
Photo 8:
The hawk landed on the fence, all flustered still and facing the backyard. I figured the squirrel was long gone. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 9:
The hawk calms down and its feathers smooth and I figured the action was all over. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 10:
I had zoomed back in on the hawk when its head suddenly snapped to the left. Turns out the darn squirrel was climbing up the fence again from the back side at the gap between gate and fence. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 11:
I zoomed back out again and got this shot of the hawk going ballistic and you can barely see the squirrel in the gap as it dives down again. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 12:
Here the hawk is looking down at the squirrel which is apparently starting to climb up the fence again. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 13:
As the squirrel which I could not see yet, get higher, the hawk gets more agitated and raises its wings higher to look more threatening I assume. The gaze of the hawk is directed slightly higher too. Time stamp still says 4:52.
Photo 14:
As you can see from the hawks gaze, the squirrel has almost reached the top of the fence, not in the gap this time but on the section closer to the brick. The hawks wings are higher still and the tail feathers are stretched out. Hawk making itself look even bigger. Time stamp still says 4:52, this was all happening in a very short amount of time. I was clicking away.
Photo 15:
If you look at the top of the fence where it touches the brick you can see where the squirrel has put one paw on the top. The hawk reacted by spreading its wings and tail as far as they can go. It was more than the hawk could take. What happened next was that the hawk took off so quick I did not get it and flew to the back so was out of sight immediately. Time stamp here is still 4:52.
Photo 16:
I took my eye away from the camera and looked at the sky to see if the hawk was on the roof or a tree or circling in the air but the hawk had left the area. I looked back at the fence and there was the squirrel trotting down to where the hawk had been sitting. It jumped down in the front yard and ran up my pecan tree. It had successfully run the hawk off. Apparently I have some ballsy squirrels. The time stamp here is 4:53. On all my photos in my gallery you can look below right of a photo and see a small letter I in a circle and click on it and you get the camera exif which includes timestamps if you don't believe me. :) I'll probably never see something like this again, it was pretty awesome.