hawk, sunset

In the middle of the day today I saw a biggish bird fly over our house from the front to the back.  I thought, by the color and size, that it was a mourning dove - we have lots of those.  But then my daughter called for me to look out the back window.  There was a hawk there in one of the trees, quite close to the house - and the birdfeeders, which I'm sure were the attraction of that perch.  It was, I believe, a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk.  It could, perhaps, have been a broad-winged hawk - I wish I were better at hawk ids.  Anyway - here is a through-the-window photo of the bird, just before it took off and flew out of sight.

 

sharpie (Accipiter striatus)

My afternoon walk was late today - after sunset, but before the light was all gone.  There were some lovely clouds colored by the last few rays of light.

  a few minutes before 5pm

a few minutes past 5pm