A chance arose to get out for a walk this afternoon. As there were still some showers off and on, I headed to Reifel where the trails would afford some cover if required. After arriving something entertaining caught my eye before I even left the parking lot.
While my focus is usually birds,
… this squirrel was fun to watch as it dangled amongst the branches eating berries.
As for birds, I was not finding much along the east or north dyke trails. About half way along the centre dyke while scanning back over my shoulder I spotted a Sharp-shinned Hawk off in the trees I had just walked by. It did not take off after I stopped, so I slowly worked my way back to where I would have a clear shot through the branches. It remained on its perch once I stopped again.
As you can see from this shot it was watching me,
… but soon went back to scanning the tree line. A pleasant surprise to have it stay put, but at this point it was just me and the bird.
After I managed a few shots, a young family was approaching along the trail. I motioned for them to be quiet and pointed out the hawk to them. They caught a brief glimpse of it in the tree, but this was too many people and it flew off to the north. None the less, they were as happy as I was to have seen it.