Around 11:30 the wind picked up and the male Kestrel showed up at Corona Heights to hunt. The resident Red-tail was only seen briefly and was chased off by two determined Ravens. The Kestrel caught several insects and a spider, all eaten on the wing.
Heading back to base. The Kestrel takes frequent breaks in the pines.
Floating with apartment windows in the distance.
A spider just taken from the right foot.
In the Arboretum the Red-shoulders were audible but only glimpsed in distant trees. The Great Egret allowed a very close approach and fished contentedly, pond to pond.
One of the Sutro Red-tails was kiting when I arrived and as is often the case, as soon as I got out of the car it disappeared like a shot over the pines to the north. Undeterred, I followed and found the male kiting over iceplant covered cliffs near pockets of wind-blown pines. After some attempts at evasive gophers, the hawk switched from the cliff faces to the upper fields and I lost it behind a tangle of pines. I raced up through the dark hollows that hikers and homeless have created in the trees, heading toward a triangle of light that I thought might give me a better vantage point. When I emerged from the trees I was out of breath and there was no hawk in sight... until I looked up.
It was kiting 20 feet above my head and descending rapidly. A few adjustments in flight and the talons emerged and the body pivoted into that familiar committed posture.
It slammed into the grass just 6 feet in front of me. I didn't realize how close it was until I took the camera away from my face and saw it in the grass, wings out, head down, focused on its prey.
Then it turned sharply toward me, grabbed the gopher and everything around it, and took off, ripping away the surrounding vegetation.
A few deft transfers of the prey from foot to foot allowed the grass and plants to fall away and the hawk just floated away.
I found the pair in the trees about 200 feet south, and it was the female that was eating the gopher that the male had just caught.
He coughed up a pellet while she dined. (you can see it falling just below the branch)
Heading back to base. The Kestrel takes frequent breaks in the pines.
Floating with apartment windows in the distance.
A spider just taken from the right foot.
In the Arboretum the Red-shoulders were audible but only glimpsed in distant trees. The Great Egret allowed a very close approach and fished contentedly, pond to pond.
One of the Sutro Red-tails was kiting when I arrived and as is often the case, as soon as I got out of the car it disappeared like a shot over the pines to the north. Undeterred, I followed and found the male kiting over iceplant covered cliffs near pockets of wind-blown pines. After some attempts at evasive gophers, the hawk switched from the cliff faces to the upper fields and I lost it behind a tangle of pines. I raced up through the dark hollows that hikers and homeless have created in the trees, heading toward a triangle of light that I thought might give me a better vantage point. When I emerged from the trees I was out of breath and there was no hawk in sight... until I looked up.
It was kiting 20 feet above my head and descending rapidly. A few adjustments in flight and the talons emerged and the body pivoted into that familiar committed posture.
It slammed into the grass just 6 feet in front of me. I didn't realize how close it was until I took the camera away from my face and saw it in the grass, wings out, head down, focused on its prey.
Then it turned sharply toward me, grabbed the gopher and everything around it, and took off, ripping away the surrounding vegetation.
A few deft transfers of the prey from foot to foot allowed the grass and plants to fall away and the hawk just floated away.
I found the pair in the trees about 200 feet south, and it was the female that was eating the gopher that the male had just caught.
He coughed up a pellet while she dined. (you can see it falling just below the branch)
4 comments:
I like the Great Egret head ,bravo!
And what about your next wooden bird automaton...
all the best.........from France
Thanks Phil, I will build another automata when inspiration strikes. Probably this summer. Thanks for the encouragement. The Hummingbird and the Heron/Fish were my first.
Very interesting blog!
I just discovered this post (now almost 3 years old), while looking for photos of a red-tail kiting. Amazing pictures and great story. Thanks. I will probably post a link.
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