I love the photos, I just wish they loaded more quickly. Welcome to A2K.
Great Blue Heron! This is the second time I've seen on of these in three years. The one I saw sunday was doing a slow strut across the ice on our "wetlands".
Honest, we really have herons in New Mexico, and they tell me they are here year round. We are seldom in the same place at the same time, though.
That party photo is, er, human wildlife?
Last week, I approached along the swimming pool fence, on my way to the office. The building it was ensconced in bordered the pool at the end of the stretch I was walking. I glanced across the water, noting the leaves blown in by daylong persistent gusty winds, and saw a flash of brown descending on a stand of oleanders and legustrums. The plants were all trimmed as recently as twenty four hours before, making it easy to spot the dozens of tiny birds moving in a hive of activity within the branches.
My old eyes are slow to focus, but I saw instanly that a hawk had plunged in after the little morsels. It dove and swam through the leaves and stems like a shark after some fishes.
I hurried around the building, hoping to get a better look, coming out on the parking lot side, where the shrubs huddled between curb and beveled cedar siding and curb and pool fence. About ten feet away, I halted. The hawk, well aware of my movement, comically thrust its head above the bush and watched me. I quickly retreated into the building, leaving the drama to play out.
I don't know if it was feast or famine, for it did not seem appropriate to intervene. I went about the day's business.
Amazing. Thanks so much for posting.
Just before xmas, I was headed into harvard square, when I saw two guys standing and peering into some brambles. There, 2 feet from the side walk, a hawk was standing on a squirrel's neck. The squirells tail was still moving. The hawk was a little flustered by our (now 5 onlookers) proximity, but he didn't fly away. I happened to have my new camera with me and took a couple shots.
Caption: "Who invited you to dine at my expense?"
Wonderful shot.
Noddy, he was defenitely offended. He did the whole manteling thing (wings drawn around the prey) when we got too near. His mate or offspring was in a tree nearby. It is really really hard to focus an auto-focus camera in a bramble!
That's an indignant-looking hawk.
We did eventually mosy on away from his dinner.....
Damn shutterbug freeloaders.
littlek, What an great photo!
In So. cal. we have;
brown bears - shrinking inviroment
coyotes - Looking ragged lately
big horn sheep
mountain lions - Attacks moutain bikers and joggers from L.A.
chuckwallas- giant lizards indians ate
turantullas - found one dead
Rattle snakes - found one half dead by car on dirt road marnated it in teriyaki and ate it. taste like chicken but muscly.
I'll post my sighting from now on. Bye
