Date: 6/16/26 1:16 pm From: Jim Betz via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] Red-tailed Hawk Attack
Hi,
Yesterday, when I was leaving I-5 for 11 (Chuckanut Drive) and was
just exiting the
roundabout on the West side of the freeway - a dark-colored bird
streaked across
the road in front of me and into the back side of the last bush before
the open
fields. There was one furious shaking of that bush and then I saw an
RTH come
out of the bush and cross back in front of me - this all took just a few
seconds,
no more than 10 or 20. As it recrossed the road I could see a medium-sized
bird in its talons ... probably a robin, Twohee, or some kind of black
bird ... but
not large enough to be crow-sized. Looking in my rear view mirror I saw
it go up
towards the top of a pole but had to look away for traffic before actually
seeing it land.
The only other times I've seen RTH with prey have been a few rodents
(voles
probably) in the vicinity of the East 90 and once on the ground close to
Maupin Road on Fir Island with a Green-winged Teal (consuming).
I've seen Great Blue Herons with/taking prey quite often. And Bald
Eagles
on a pole consuming a duck. And the occasional Kestrel with a vole/mouse.
But, as I said, it is usually after the actual "catch".
I once saw and photographed an Osprey making repeated drops into the
shallow water at Ship ... but it always came up empty (that day/that time).
Wonderful to see the actual kill happening rather than the much more
common "sitting on a pole or wire looking around for movement".
