I was able to catch these beauties in the side yard earlier this evening. There were four more to the right of the area in the picture, and a slew of them in the woods, as well. One day, a few year...
I grew up in Queens and Central NJ and swore I'd only raise kids in a rural area. Except for the technology drain, I love days like this (very common here):
This thread highlights what most of this community have in common, living in a rural area, it's true there are many things we don't have or can't access but sometimes sitting in your yard watching the wildlife compensates for not living in the city. The quality of the pictures is not important it's the memories of what you saw last year or the year before, my wifes yearly project is feeding the 30 to 50 "hummers" that visit every year, the memory that pops up on her Facebook page is usually a reminder to her that it's time to put out the feeders. I enjoyed looking at the two pics you guys posted and I would like to add my own.
That's definitely a hawk or falcon. Without seeing its wingspan it's hard to tell which. I'm leaning toward a hawk, but again, it's hard to tell. Still a nice pic!