Hawk delight

This little family is doing beautifully. The growth of the babies is astonishing. This is not an easy nest to photograph. The sunlight hits from various angles. There's strong backlight in the afternoon and there are leaves in the way. All of this is very good for the safety of this nesting family.

Two of the babies still get small bits of meat from the mother. The first born can swallow a hunk. I saw it swallow the whole rear end of a rat, tail and all. What went in was larger than its mouth, but it all got glucked down. After dining Mama Hawk preened her babies. She cleaned the areas around their mouths and eyes and then top of heads and back of heads. The babies know how to preen their wings. It was one of the most endearing things I've ever seen. She's a gentle Mama.

While standing and watching the hawks three police cars went by and stopped near the Cafe half a block south. Out got cops, guns drawn. My sister who lives in Las Vegas explained that yesterday homegrown terrorists were arrested here in the city. The cops must have gotten a message that terrorists were nearby. After about a half hour they packed up their guns and left. Nothing like a little excitement. The cops had very big guns and they looked at me carefully too, one frumpy adult with big lens, a menace????