How marvellous that you were able to capture that moment, I'm always happy to see hawks and bald eagles where I live. Truly magnificent creatures,

What a nice pic! I love hawks too. When we just moved here, I saw hawks and their babies circling over the woods, that was one of the coolest things being in the country.

He's beautiful!

That's more likely a red-shouldered hawk, Jackie, given how much black-and-white there is on the wings and tail (sharpies are more solid gray). Plus, sharpies have a dark gray cap on top of their head. (I volunteered for six years counting the fall hawk migration for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory in the Marin Headlands -- your neck of the woods -- wonderful experience!) Better for the other birds in your neighborhood if it is red-shouldered -- sharpies specialize in catching songbrids as prey, whereas the red-shouldered hawk is more interested in rodents. Nice photo, though, and lucky you -- any raptor is great to have around! This month is the peak of the fall raptor migration over the Headlands, so he may just be moving through (they don't like flying large bodies of water, so they tend to turn and follow the coastline once they hit the ocean). On the other hand, I've never lived in a neighborhood in the SF Bay Area that didn't have a resident pair of red-shouldered hawks.

catspa - Thank you for all of the information! Our tenant, who is a birder, thinks it is a red shouldered hawk also, so I am taking that ID from both of you as correct. It has been hanging around our property for weeks, so I guess we have a healthy eco system here, including top predators. Last week I saw 2 foxes calmly walking down our driveway when it was just after dusk. Last time I saw a fox around here was over 30 years ago. We live 4 blocks from downtown San Rafael, so it is amazing to see them.

Jackie