Low visibility meant he spent most of the time perch hunting even though the winds were strong enough to kite at altitude. Briefly he tried kiting at lower elevations but had to flap to sustain position over the hillside.

These images are only clear because he was kiting, at eye level, just yards away.

Roll over the image to pause, and click for higher res versions.

The fog blew in and the sky turned white and the hawk stayed focused in his flurry of feathers.

Returning to the streetlight to rest and consider other options.

Touching down after quickly surveying Sutro Heights Park.

Another perspective on a streetlight landing.

Heading out into the baths means braving the attacks of Blackbirds, Scrub Jays, Ravens, and Gulls... but high pitched calls from the female began drifting in on the wind and he left to try his luck in the pines north of the baths.

The wind caught him as he spiraled up to gain a little altitude before gliding across the valley.

I went after him and decided to stakeout his favorite place to dispatch prey. I had a feeling he'd catch something and hoped he would come floating up the hill and land on the rocks just feet in front of my position, braced against a rock, on a cliffside, with my back to the sea, in the fog.

So I waited...

After 15 minutes I thought about going back to the streetlights but decided first to look out at the ocean. When I turned, I thought I saw a person sitting near me on the cliff, but when my eyes focused, I saw the hawk, sitting calmly on the cliff just 15 feet behind me. He snuck up and touched down so quietly, I'm sure he'd been there for at least 10 minutes.

He turned, looked at me, then looked back out towards the cliff house, scanning the hillside. Then he calmly opened his wings...

and departed.

Swooping up into the nest with a rat. He stays just long enough to exchange the prey with the female (who now often watches the nest from a distant tree because the young are getting big enough to need the space).

Yesterday I saw that there were two young hawks in the nest and took this picture of the older one...

which is already carefully investigating its surroundings.