A pair of Cooper's hawks on my morning adventures

I was short on time the other morning so I decided to visit an old haunt in the neighborhood: a ditch/arroyo/diversion channel. You absolutely have to take care when you are thinking of walking in any ditch. Every year we lose people who, for whatever reason, are in a ditch when it starts to rain. The rains can make ditches very hazardous in a just a few minutes, one minute you think you're safe, and the next minute you're being swept away by a torrent of water as it makes its way to the Rio Grande. In the past couple of weeks we have lost at least three people who drowned this way. After searching for them for several days (first as rescue, then as recovery) the rescue teams found all three bodies. On this particluar morning it was bright and sunny, so I was in no danger from fast moving currents. (I just had to watch for snakes!) While taking pictures, these two Cooper's hawks landed right in front of me, probably ten yards away. They were beautiful and were out hunting this morning. 




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