Today morning at about 8 am while walking to the university, I noticed a Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) sitting in the grass from a distance. I was curious to see what it was up to, but I was getting late for work, so I kept walking, obviously keeping an eye on the bird. I noticed it was holding something under its paw and was trying to feed on it.
Around noon, when I returned for lunch, I was surprised to see a Red Tailed Hawk on the same location. (It could have been the same bird). I rushed home to get my camera. The location was right by the sidewalk and I was worried some passer by might disturb the bird.
I was really happy to see the bird was still there when I returned with my camera in a few minutes. But also as suspected, a person passing by noticed the bird and was trying to approach it with his cell phone camera in hands.
Next few minutes I spent observing and photographing the bird feeding on a Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Grey Squirrels are fairly common rodents in Easter Kansas where I observed it. They feed on tree buds and nuts. They tend to bury the nuts when they are plentiful and use them in winter when food is scarce. They use their keen sense of smelling to find them back.
It carefully looks at the food.
Lifted a piece of squirrel ...
... and twisted on its side.
It was taking long pauses in between and checking out the vicinity.
The hawk noticed me and gave an angry look...
... and then continues enjoying the meal.
On the watch tower nearby another hawk appeared from nowhere.
The hawk continues to feast on what was left of the unfortunate squirrel.
The Hawk took off and joined the other on on the observation tower.
Finally what was left of the squirrel was this.
