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As I am posting this there is a fairly large falcon de feathering an equally large pigeon on a light post outside the garage window. The technicians watched him (or her) catch the prey and pull it across the lot to the pole.
Pretty awesome E36 M3 right there.
Pics or it didn't happen.
I guess it didn't happen, I will save a bloody feather for you though.
I thought maybe you saw some bats copulating or something.
That would be creepy.
Quit watching Ghostbusters and get back to work! And don't you dare say "Duck Fat!!!"
Hawks take down songbirds and doves in my back yard on a regular basis because Mrs. BDT fills multiple bird feeders. She's horrified. I think it is cool.
Sunflower seed = bait.
EastCoastMojo wrote: "Duck Fat!!!"
You said it sister.
I watched one snatch a pigeon off a power line and pile it into the ground. It was cool to watch.
I got to see a hawk pick a mockingbird off our fence once. Well, I got to see the billow of feathers aftermath. The hawk sat in our backyard and ate breakfast, I watched from a respectable distance since I didn't want to scare it off or get et. 
EastCoastMojo wrote:I got to see a hawk pick a mockingbird off our fence once. Well, I got to see the billow of feathers aftermath. The hawk sat in our backyard and ate breakfast, I watched from a respectable distance since I didn't want to scare it off or get et.
Ever been up close and personal with a raptor? That beak and those talons aren't just for looks . I love em, I took a class once that involved being around them for two days, it was great, those birds are just awesome. Maybe I'm just insanely jealous of their freedom of flight, dunno, one of the most majestic animals I can think of.
One time I was standing out in front of my house, chatting with my neighbor. There was a pigeon wandering around the yard about 10 feet away from us, and all of a sudden BAM out of nowhere a hawk swooped down, nabbed it and was gone. It was pretty wild, there were a couple feathers left behind but that was it.
The other morning, I walked outside of the shop and there was a redtailed hawk standing on top of a car at the edge of the lawn. That's pretty unusual, they tend to stay kind of far from people, so I called some co workers over and we watched for a while. It turned out there was a squirrel under the car and the hawk was waiting for it to come out. He finally got tired of waiting, hopped down to the ground and went under the car after the squirrel. The squirrel took off for the other side of the car and the hawk couldn't move as fast, they went back and forth under and around the car. We watched the hawk and squirrel game for at least 15 minutes. There was a tree maybe 4 feet from the car, the squirrel finally made a run for it, the hawk took off after him and ran into the tree trunk.
Thw hawk flew about 20 feet from the tree, landed on the grass and turned around and watched, damned if the squirrel didn't go about 2 feet below the limbs, stare at the hawk and then start doing squirrel push ups. The hawk finally gave up, I guess the squirrel embarrassed him. 
About three evenings a week I will hear a rabbit scream followed by an owl hooting with pride. Ever hear a rabbit scream just as you are drifting off to sleep? We have three in the woods around my house and you can often hear them calling to one another at dusk.
The hawks will circle above the tree tops and screetch when I am out side working. I will ocasionaly see them nab a small bird or a squirel.
I was mountain biking once and as I came down a fast single track hill, I saw a huge commotion off to my right. A big owl came swooping down, grabbed a squirrel by the back and took him for his first and last flight, not more than ten feet across the front of my bike. It was very cool.
Unless you're the squirrel.
My wife was watching a cute little bunny hop across our back yard when suddenly there was a flash of brown and the rabbit suddenly wasn't. I've watched an adolescent redtail snatch a low-flying bird out of the air right outside my office window, too.
Growing up on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, we got to see a fair number of ospreys. They are a sight to behold.
And I didn't see it doing anything other than fly, but there's at least one bald eagle near my neighborhood, right here in suburban Delaware. That thing is massive.
I've always liked the raptors ever since I was a kid and have kept an eye out for them. It seems like the populations are really surging recently.
Ah, Nature.
One morning we had a squirrel attempt to follow in the footsteps of the Wallendas, only to discover Power Lines aren't the best place to do it. He made it as far as the transformer, then forgot where to put his feet. One loud "Pop" later, he was BBQ.
I went out early on a Sunday morning to see what was up, and found the late Mr Squirrel in full rigor mortis on the ground. Enter one of the many semi-feral cats from under the house. He wandered over, sniffed the squirrel, then picked him up and carted him off, possibly thinking "Brunch".
I just called entergy and went back to bed.
Fun was going hand to talon with a hawk that had gotten into my aviary.
Raising free range chickens is a great way to learn about raptors. You get lots of opportunities to watch them hunt.
We have a young red tail hawk couple living on post. I kept hearing a new type of screech but couldn't identify it. Taking a walk at lunch I saw one circling, OK that's the new noise. Then the other one comes blistering in at light speed to snatch a rat off a rain gutter! They both flew away to enjoy the snack.
Thank you Mother Nature.
What's funny is you can really tell the difference between a hawk and a buzzard and see that same difference in the way aircraft are designed. I'm sure this points to ID for somebody, but it's actually good old natural selection.
Hawks have shorter wingspan and a deeper chord (distance from leading edge to trailing edge) This increases roll rate and reduces wing loading during aggressive maneuvers, but increases drag. They also have almost no dihedral when gliding (wings are held flat and parallel), which is the aerodynamic equivalent of toe out: less stable but more responsive. They have a thicker wing profile and a large tail surface, which adds drag but of course increases maneuverability. All this means they need to flap a fair amount and have a mediocre glide angle - they rely on power.
Take a look at a modern fighter jet and note the similarities.
Buzzards, on the other hand, have a higher aspect ratio wing design (longer and skinnier) which is better for gliding efficiency and reduced drag. They also glide with lots of positive dihedral (wings up in a slight V) which is a very stable and self-correcting configuration because it puts the CG below the center of lift. They also have proportionally smaller tails for less drag.
Buzzards are configured for aerodynamic efficiency and payload, like a bomber or airliner, rather than maneuverability, so they can soar for minutes or hours hardly needing to flap.
we have both buzzards and red tailed hawks in the woody grove behind our house, and as u mentioned duke, the similarities to modern aircraft are easily identifiable. Whats awesome is watching a hawk in a tree eyeballing prey. Then you see him hop up into the air for a few circles - way up there, and then see him hurl himself at the ground at an amazing rate, pull his nose up at the last second, and slam all his weight into the poor unsuspecting insert small woodland creature here, hammer it into the earht with an audible thud, and launch back up into a tree with his meal in claw. Ive seen it about 8 -10 times since weve lived here. The best I saw was hawk snatch a cat, and the cat fought back - 2 predators having at it. It was amazing...poor poor kittah
Yes, I took this pic at 300 ft above ground level
I saw a frigate bird swoop through a small porch once. Right in front of me. 
I can only assume it was after the sandwiches.
How? You in a plane?
I used to hang glide and saw a big turkey buzzard go after a glider, got too close to a nest on the ridge line.
I thought this was pretty cool:
woops, pic fail, trying agian....
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