Backyard death match

In answer to one of our top predator wanted ads, a juvenile red-tailed hawk stopped by last evening to entertain us during our cocktail hour (and a half).  This is the biggest bird ever to visit our yard, an impressive beast.  Bird-watching turned into rollicking good fun as we watched this youngster do their level best to obtain a squirrel dinner.   You don't get this type of amusement just every day.  Our hawk moved around the yard from perch to perch, both chasing squirrels up and down trees, and then almost had dinner when a squirrel struck out across the yard and the hawk swooped in from a burr oak.  And while no squirrels actually died in the making of this spectacle (drat!) that one had a very, very close brush with death as both squirrel and hawk dove into a bed of dwarf dahlias (oops!), a very near miss. Mrs. Phactor decided it was not a good evening to take her kitty out for a walk least the two inept predators should meet in utter confusion.  Not a rabbit in sight.