As I walked the main trail at Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge today, I was surprised to find a juvenile RED-TAILED HAWK perched low on a branch just a few meters overhead. More surprisingly, though, was its apparent ambivalence to people - even when they were among one of the many large, talkative, groups that passed directly beneath its perch.

During the time I and another amateur photographer watched this bird we were treated to close views of three successful sallies for prey! It was great fun and I had the opportunity to meet a new birder (Erik), but it was an observation that I am still struggling to understand. How is it that the consumption of three good-sized rodents produced no discernible bulge in the crop. See the last two photos in the series below. And then, when this bird first took prey near my feet, and twice thereafter just a few short-meters away; how could this RED-TAILED HAWK not have been raised in captivity.

Serendipitously, we were able to record the hawk's deployment of its protective (nictitating) eye membrane shortly after capturing prey. 

Your thoughts, if any, about this observation of a common species will be greatly appreciated.