Red-tailed hawk in flight

This got into the print edition, but I had to share it online. I was driving home through the Raus community Thursday and saw this magnificent red-tailed hawk sitting on a fence post, not two feet from the road.

I've always seen them from a distance, but this was the closest I'd been to a wild one. I stopped the car and grabbed the ever-hand camera and got a shot of him sitting there. Finally, after some car-horn encouragement, he took flight.

What a magnificent sight!