My boy actually spotted this hawk as we zipped by at highway speed. As he described what he saw, I decided to turn around at the next opportunity and drive past again, this time slowly since there was no traffic around. He seemed to be favoring his wing, as though injured.

I don’t know…I’ve photographed injured hawks before, and this one just didn’t have the same posture. So I decided to take a closer look and try to determine what was up with this unusual (for a hawk) pose.

It was then, as is common for all raptors in the presence of my camera, that he hopped right up in a manner all too spry for a bird with a serious injury, then took flight as if everything was completely normal.

I don’t know why he was hanging out that way, but it certainly was weird. Maybe he’d seen so many farmers go by with their arm out the window, and thought he’d try it out for himself? I guess I’ll never know.