The hawk...

As I travelled the the freeway into work the other day, I noticed a crow making arcing passes toward the college's farm road that parallels the freeway as it dips below the mean surface level before rising again past the sports center. ...and the bird's passes were describing the same set of arcs over and over again.

Usually this behavior means a bird is trying to drive a predator away from its territory, but I wondered what would be bringing a crow down to nearly ground level. A stray farm cat perhaps? ...or maybe one of the kestrels or hawks we have in the area? ...but the the raptors usually wait patiently on the top of the freeway lighting standards for the incautious mouse or gopher to make its last move.

...but it was easy enough to focus on what he was after since all of his arcs bottomed out at the same location. ...and as I drove by, I could see the dun colored hawk perched on a fence totally ignoring the crow as he focused on the ground cover on the bank of the freeway, waiting for a repeat of the movement that had caught his eye and brought him down from his usual place high above the passing cars.