Sometimes nature can be awesome and terrifying all at the same time. This morning around 6:30am as I walked out of the house to leave for work, I witnessed something amazing. Of course, I didn't have a camera handy.
Right above my head, flying maybe 7-8 ft above the ground, a mourning dove was flying as fast as it could while being chased by a sharp shinned hawk. The dove zipped, dropped and changed direction at least a dozen times in an effort to escape the hawk. The hawk, being a master of flight, was able to gain ground on the dove even with all the evasive maneuvers.
The entire episode only lasted a few seconds, with the hawk finally grabbing the dove out of the air. Death was instant because as the hawk landed on the neighbors roof with his hard fought breakfast, there was no movement from the dove.
As brutal as it can be, mother nature is a wonderful thing. Keep your camera handy!
3 comments:
Oh! That would have been a riveting scene... but hard to witness at the same time. Secretly, I'm glad you didn't have a camera. :-)
From the start...knew what you were going to say.
Didn't realize they prey on birds that large.
Ok...now I'll try and shake out that uncomfortable feeling.
It's both sad and amazing to watch. I've seen it happen several other times in the yard, and I did have the camera for a couple of those.
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