There are many things one can see while walking on the streets of Toronto, but in this guest post, Michelle and Arthur share their pictures and their story about a Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) that they recently sighted sitting on a city lamp post while holding a rat in its claws.
Arthur and I went for a walk recently in Toronto because it was such a warm, sunny day. We’ve been cooped up for too many weekends when the weather has been nasty and cold. We needed some fresh air and sunshine.
Walking south from our Kensington market apartment in the downtown section of Toronto, we found ourselves on Ryerson Avenue near the Theatre Passe Muraille. It is a pretty cool looking building; it actually used to house a bakery.
Our attention was drawn away from this heritage site when we spotted a massive bird of prey flying at full tilt in the air above the street. We were really excited to see that it was a huge Red-Tailed Hawk with a big fat rat in its talons!
Luckily, it landed on a street light, and we were able to get a closer look.
The street below it was pretty busy with people and cyclists passing by so it didn’t stay too long on its perch and instead moved to a TV aerial on top of a house further down the street. Finally, it took off and headed in the direction of a big school rooftop where I’m sure it was going to have a little lunch!
If you would like to see more of Michelle’s photographic work, visit her Citynoise Site.
Checkout our some of our other Greater Toronto Area sightings:
American Kestrel Eating Prey Sighted In Whitby, Ontario
Wild Coyote Sighting in Claireville Conservation Area, Toronto
Barred Owl Sighted at Thickson’s Woods, Whitby
Frame To Frame – Bob & Jean
Red-tailed Hawk Sighted Holding a Rat in Toronto is a post from: Frame To Frame
