Meadowlark?

[Sturg]

I was in St. Paul this afternoon and as I turned onto Randolph Rd from Shepard Road, I saw a couple of birds ahead in the middle of the road. At first I thought it might be a couple of pigeons with spring fever. They seemed to be tussling. Turned out to be a Cooper's hawk pinning what I think was a meadowlark. I stopped to take some pics and at least 3 cars coming from the other way passed within a few feet of the hawk. The hawk finally lifted off the road and flew down to a brushy strip carrying lunch with it. I parked the car and got a couple more shots of it in the brush. A cool encounter!

The meal definitely had a yellow belly.

[Dbl]

Very cool, nicely done! It does look like a Meadowlark.

[eyeguy 54]

sweet find!

[brushwolf]

Very nice pics! Great job!

[IA4PATS]

nice

[EBass]

Very cool! Too bad you didn't capture the "kill"

[toughguy]

The violence on the streets of St. Paul is out of control.

Nice shots.

[Dotch]

Hehehe, I'm gonna stay outta that place! Great photos. Sure looks like a meadowlark. Hopefully Mr. Cooper's tastes turn to nice juicy grackle or house sparrow. Meadowlark population has been struggling with habitat sorely lacking. They're not terribly evasive fliers, nest on the ground and prefer open country so they stand little chance against something as swift as these small hawks.