Hawk Rescue

When we moved into our house one of the things that we loved was the pair of red tailed hawks that nest in the canyon behind our house, and we love seeing them soaring beyond our backyard most everyday.  We even named them a couple years ago: Carmen & Diego.  :)

So yesterday Camden looked out in the yard and saw a hawk by the glass wall at the back of the yard.  I went out to see if I could get a good photo of it before it flew away, but it was on the ground next to the glass wall and it wasn't flying, and as I approached it hopped into the rose bushes at the back corner of the wall, and was struggling.  It was so big!  Maybe 2 1/2 feet tall.  At first I wondered if it was injured, but it looked to be putting its weight on both legs ok, and fluttering it's wings.  We've had quite a few birds get confused by the glass wall (or fly into it and get stunned or even die).  So far there have been a number of mourning doves, a flock of quail, and a road runner. 

Anyway, I climbed back through the rose bushes to where he was stuck at the very corner of the glass walls, and used a couple of brooms to gently lift the hawk up to the top of the wall.  After pausing on the end of the broom for only a moment he flew all the way across the canyon.  Fortunately he didn't seem to be injured, but it seemed pretty stressful for him.  It was cool to be able to help out.  Too bad we didn't think to take a video -- I got a thrill watching that magnificent bird take off from just a couple feet in front of me.