I have had this for awhile, in fact have a whole series of the event.
It is graphic and I am not posting for shock value.
I was amazed to get a shot of this behavior.
A Red Tail with a Pintail duck. I photographed the Red Tail dragging the duck out of the stream.
It took it behind the grasses and snap, just like with fish, the first thing raptors do.
If the Moderators feel this is too graphic, no problem.
The rest of the shots were worse than this!
Bird photos, like animal photos, are not always beautiful.
Nature is graphic all day every day. Good for you to witness this and get photos. Pretty good exp. and sharpness. Looking forward to more. I walked down my driveway yesterday looking for a perch for a setup, a mockingbird had laid claim to the front yard and would run off all intruders. On the way back a redtail hawk swooped in right in front of me and snatched the mockingbird out of a bush. This morning another mockingbird has already taken over the front yard. Nature goes on.
Actually, Dan, I think it is beautiful. Nature is so perfect and finely tuned, and things happen as they are supposed to. I believe that this was the duck's purpose in this world and it will live on through the hawk and its offspring. It is only when human kind messes around that things go astray. As for your photograph, I do wish for more room on the right for the tail (even if it is virtual). A couple of the horizontal twigs are distracting but I realize there is absolutely nothing you could do about that. I'm only speaking for myself, but I would like to see more of this series, especially the catch.