1. There is a park on my way to work, most of the work days I stop at the park before going to work, take a 10 minutes walk with the camera/lens in a big packpack (Lowepro Lens Trekker 600 AW II). 3 out of 5 days the camera/lens stays in the packpack (nothing to shoot); 2 out of 5 days I see potential opportunity, and take the camera out; only 1 day out of 5 that I actually get some interesting shots. This is like playing slot machine in Las Vegas, most of the time you lose, but the slight chance of winning draws you back.
2. I know 2 red tailed hawk nests within 4 miles of my house, during breeding season, if I spend enough time there (like 3 hours), I will always get something.
You will find raptors wherever there are raptor food source(mice, gophers, etc.). I would look at goolge maps, satellite mode, see the green area near you, then search flickr for that place name and "raptor", "hawk", to see if anybody has gotten any photos there.
