Prey for Lunch in Greenwich -- Squawk About Take-Out

I’m not an ornithologist. I can tell the difference between a robin, cardinal, wood thrush, black backed gull … the usual feathered suspects found along the Connecticut coastline.

But given the bird’s position while dining on what apparently was a tasty afternoon delight in western Greenwich Monday afternoon, I wasn’t able to discern whether this was a red-tailed hawk. But talk about take-out!

This burly bird with the curved, sharp beak and yellow-hued talons gleaming in the sun, wasn’t about to be interrupted. Trucks with snowplows rumbled by as the hawk nonchalantly picked at its meal and looked around, while sitting on a neighbor’s walkway — all about 15 feet from the road’s edge.

I stood curbside, while the bird pecked away for at least a half-hour on its prey and another hawk sat sentinel in a nearby dogwood tree. High above, a seagull sailed the frigid air currents, while letting loose with peels of covetous squawking.

Couldn’t tell what was on the main menu, but the grey fur indicated it probably was a squirrel.

Bottom line: the hawks had a full belly — not the gull.

Photo credits: Barbara Heins.