Los Altos, California

This was a case of being in the right place at the right time. I was in my office at home when I heard a commotion outside and saw a flash of movement and a blur of feathers. A Cooper's Hawk had struck a robin, bringing it down in a cloud of feathers in our front yard. It proceeded very calmly to dismember and eat its dinner while I watched and photographed. It was late in the day, so my challenge was getting enough light for a decent exposure. Fortunately, I was able to use a low aperture which nicely blurred the background while retaining sufficiently sharp focus on the eye and body. The feathers strewn about helped emphasize the primal nature of the scene.