Hawk Attack!

So I got back the other night from a four day golf trip with friends in Orlando and had an odd/scary experience.  We're on the back at Celebration Golf Club and rolling up to a par three.  It's a little backed up and the group in front of us is still on the tee.  So we just sit back on the cart path 20-30 yards from the tee box next to some forest.

I step out of the cart and am looking up at some ferns growing up some tree trunks when I hear something.  I look to my right and there's a hawk -- a BIG one -- maybe 10 yards away.  Dude's eye level coming straight at me with his claws sticking out.  I let out some kind of involuntary yell and face planted.  My buddy in the cart looked right about the same time and hit the deck too.

The hawk pulled up and settled on this branch maybe 20 feet above us just looking down.  My buddy had the bright idea of throwing a ball at him and the bird flies off about 50 yards.  We keep an eye on him.  Group of front of his hits, and then we move up to the tee box.  I'll be damned if that bird didn't make another pass and then again settle in a tree right above us, just watching.

Only thing I could figure was that the hawk was protecting a nearby nest.  But I figured that was only in the springtime.  Anybody know or ever had a similar experience?

Crazy.  Never seen anything like that.  Where I play I think there are too many obese squirrels for the hawks to feast on for them to bother dive-bombing the players!

I don't live too far from Celebration, and there are tons of red shouldered hawks around.  They are low-flying birds, as they hunt both on the ground and from the air.  They aren't very big as birds of prey go, and I've never seen one fly with claws out (that seems strange unless they were attacking an animal).  If that is what you saw, it makes sense that you were close to its nest.  Whether it was trying to scare you away, or was just flying around, who knows?

Actually, I have never had occasion to play out there, but have heard good things.  I have been out to Reunion and Champions Gate.  Both are nearby Celebration and were a lot of fun.

While walking down a fairway but near a large tree, a hawk hit my head from behind with the claws going through my hat and cutting my scalp... It was totally a surprise and scared the heck out of me. It was spring time so maybe there was a nest.

Then at another time, I look up and see this hawk diving toward the ground a little ahead and to my right.  He explodes into a bunny rabbit and fur actually did fly up.  Then the hawk slowly jumped up and flapped away with the rabbit in its claws.  Quite a sight.