Swainson’s Hawk

Edit to update title! I emailed the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton with these pictures and asked if they could ID this hawk. Holly, the Animal Care and Project Manager, emailed me back to let me know he is a Swainson's Hawk and that they are quite common in our area. They migrate to South American and usually leave in September.

Thank you for the ID, Holly!

There have has been 2 hawks living in the forest behind our house this spring/summer. Haven't seen a nest or babies but we can see them and hear them every day. The other day our boys saw them sitting on a guard rail on the road near our house and were so excited to get within 20 feet of them, before they both flew off.
Today, I saw a commotion outside the front window so went to see what was going on. There were 3 hawks fighting in mid-air, one of them had something in its talons. We thought it was a mouse at first but could soon see it was much bigger than a mouse, a gopher, perhaps?
Anyway, he landed on our neighbours lawn and sat there for 40 minutes, eating away.
Neighbours came and went, he cause quite a scene in small town Devon! People were stopping their cars in the middle of the street to take a look or take pictures. This isn't something you see everyday!
Click on the picture to see a larger image, then click your back button to come back to this post.

One of his buddies landed on the roof of our house, obviously upset that HE didn't get the gopher and that his feathered friend wouldn't share.

The third guy circled overheard quite a bit, squawking like crazy.
 

Edited to add this shot. Our neighbour Mandy sat on her step the entire time watching him. She was no more than 10 feet away! He was not bothered by her in the least. She was giving me a play by play from her spot, where she said she could hear bones crunching!

Gopher? Looks like it! The hawk literally ate him from top to bottom! It was such a cool sight. Gross, but cool.
Seriously, is something wrong with me? I laugh every time I look at this picture. You HAVE to click on the picture for a closer view. You HAVE to!

Looks like a fuzzy pair of pants, doesn't it?

Here is an addition to the post, where the hawk has literally turned the gopher inside out. He's quite efficient!

We watched him eat until the neighbours cat came trotting down the sidewalk. Did he seriously think he could take that bird? Or was he just looking for gopher leftovers?
I was so excited when he took off that I nearly missed the shot. I have such a bad habit of doing that, not a good trait for a photographer! BTW, that red thing that is hanging behind him? That's gopher spine. Ick.

Turns out, the cat wanted the gopher leftovers. He licked the grass for a few minutes then walked away, satisfied with himself...