I stopped at Highland Park Cemetery around 6:00 this evening and found
one
of the juvenile red tailed hawks out and about, trying to secure his
own dinner.

I first saw him/her on the ground, hopping around the grave markers,
poking at some
inedible object, first with one foot and then the other.  Holding it
down, studying it,
changing his grip.  Finally he abandoned it for more interesting
prey.  A squirrel.

He flew, low to the ground after a fox squirrel, and was doing pretty
well until a tree trunk
got between him and the squirrel.  The squirrel, by this time pretty
confident of his safety,
hopped off across the lawn.....and the red tail ran after him.  Ran.
In a foot race the squirrel
was comfortably out of reach.

It's a slow learning curve to catch your own.  I hope his skills
improve a lot before the hard
Ohio winter settles in.

Inga Schmidt

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