While sitting in my barrel blind on Saturday, a black-shouldered kite caught my eye. It was flying fast and low. Right behind the kite was a harrier (marsh hawk) in hot pursuit. As I wondered what was going on, the kite turned skyward, flying vertical. As it did so, it released prey from its grasp and the potential meal dropped towards the [...]
Archive for the ‘raptors’ Category
The Kite and the Harrier
Posted in raptors, tagged black shouldered kite, northern harrier on December 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Swainson’s Hawk in Flight
Posted in birds, birds of prey, raptors, wildlife, tagged Red-tailed hawk, Swainson's Hawk on May 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week we were out in the Altamont and came upon a pair of Swainson’s hawks. From nearly a half mile away, I snapped a few photos with my 200mm Nikon lens. They came out OK, so here they are. You can see the charactaristics of the Swainson’s hawk quite well. For comparison purposes, here’s a [...]
Spring in the Altamont
Posted in amphibians, bird watching, birds of prey, burrowing owl, Endangered species, outdoors, raptors, snakes, special status species, wildlife management, tagged Burrowing Owl, California tiger salamander larvae, King Snake, Pacific Tree Frog Tadpole, Seine Netting, Swainson's Hawk on April 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Joe spotted a couple Swainson’s hawks gliding high overhead. Red-tails were hanging around a stand of eucalyptus trees and a ferruginous hawk was spotted on the horizon. Joe also found a young king snake under a board. We took quite a few photos of the willing snake. Burrowing owls were in their usual [...]
The Cooper’s Hawk
Posted in birds of prey, photography, raptors, wildlife, tagged Cooper's hawk on April 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Riding down the trail towards my truck, movement caught my eye and a pair of birds emerged from a sycamore tree. A Cooper’s hawk was on the tail of a magpie, but he failed to catch it. After the miss, the hawk rose into the air and soared overhead. I grabbed my camera and got [...]
