Driving late in the afternoon Sept. 14 along Washington Road (Route 126) in Jefferson, we crossed a bridge over the West Branch Davis Stream in the village and drove beneath a power line on which a large raptor was perched, watching the stream below for a late lunch. So intent on its task, the bird, which has been tentaively identified as a juvenile red-tailed hawk, didn’t mind as my husband stopped the car in the road with precarious sightlines and I hopped out to snap some photos. It wasn’t until I approached the raptor’s invisible comfort zone that it arched its shoulders in preparation for take-off. I stopped, it stopped. I took that one-step-too-close more and off it went, flying up the stream.