HAWK IN TECOLOTE CANYON
Twice this month I've had the good fortune to be spotted by hawks even before I saw them. Both times the hawks slowed their circling directly over me and glided lower and lower until they were within camera range. It was as if they were allowing me to photograph them. In both instances the hawks were probably looking for mice or squirrels, but I like to think they stopped what they were doing to acknowledge my presence. It was obvious that we had seen each other. I must confess that the hawk today in Tecolote Canyon was less obviously friendly than the one I saw earlier in the month when I was tramping around the bluffs at Cabrillo Point. That first hawk, the one in the photograph above, had been circling the bluff above the pounding surf near the lighthouse at the entrance to San Diego Bay; and when I appeared on the hillside, he flew directly over me, slowed into a glide, and circled around not more than twenty or thirty feet above me. Today as I walked the trail through Tecolote Canyon, I had the sense that the magnificent hawk in the other photos was following me. He was close enough for me to catch the fierce look on his face.

Of course, “tecolote” is the Spanish word for owl; but I have never seen an owl in Tecolote Canyon.