I went downtown with a friend to photograph the architecture on the west side of the downtown. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and up and up until I saw this bird. I could clearly tell that it was a bird of prey, but I did not know specifically what kind it was. The bird had its eyes on the pigeons on top of the building across the street. What was really amazing to me: this bird was perched beside a statue of an eagle.
Great shot! How perfect was it that he posed next to the eagle statue! My husband and I tried looking it up in our bird book and we think it's an immature Cooper's Hawk or a Goshawk, but we're leaning more strongly to the Cooper's. You certainly got an excellent picture of him!
@olivetreeann Thank you for your comments and the bird identification. I am leaning towards Cooper's Hawk too, as they are known to be in this area. I certainly do not identify birds of prey well.
@sangwann Thank you for your comment and fav. Several years ago, the city officials were trying to get rid of the pigeons. They never thought of introducing birds of prey to the downtown area!
@maggiemae Thank you for your fav. Getting good composition was difficult, because I was almost underneath the bird and had to look up the building to see the bird. I thought about walking across the street, but I thought the bird would fly away if I moved.
@lynnz Thank you. Yes, I could not believe that the bird was right by the only eagle statue along this street. (and the only bird statue too along this street).