As I pulled into my driveway this afternoon, I spotted a red-tailed hawk about 20 feet up in a cottonwood across the street.

I think this bird is a female, based on her size — female raptors are bigger than males. And she is big.

I’ve seen her several times in the neighborhood, usually being mobbed by the resident crows, ravens and magpies.

Which brings up the question — why is she in a suburban neighborhood? I mean, we are on the very western edge of the Denver metro area, with the mountains about half a mile away — she might cruise in once in a while to see what she could take, but the open foothills are better habitat for her. And we have a healthy resident population of woodland raptors like Coopers and sharp-shinned hawks that already patrol this territory.

She gave me no answers. I’ll just have to watch her like a hawk this winter, and see what happens.