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Saw what looked like a small raptor at one of my birdbaths this afternoon... wish I'd gotten a pic of it for identification purposes. I checked my field guide: I believe the bird was a young American Kestrel. I noticed that when it appeared, all the other birds vanished until it left... :oops:
 
Wingnut said:
Saw what looked like a small raptor at one of my birdbaths this afternoon... wish I'd gotten a pic of it for identification purposes. I checked my field guide: I believe the bird was a young American Kestrel. I noticed that when it appeared, all the other birds vanished until it left... :oops:
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Did it look like this?
You can tell by the claws, feet, and beak, that it means business! :
1800

No, those don't eat worms :oops:.
Wikipedia: ....allows many American kestrels to become effective hunters of birds in the size range of sparrows and starlings, with occasional success against birds up to approximately twice their own weight.
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Had a visit today from a 'Yellow-Headed Blackbird!' I've seen 'em here before, but I don't think they're local, I think they're migratory? Anyway, I see the bird still out there on the bath on the west side of my home, that birdbath is now in the shade... I added some ice cubes and water awhile ago, so there's a ring of birds sitting on the edge of the bath, lol. Here's a pic of the bird in question, some of his friends showed up and I tried to take another pic, but it didn't come out, and I know they'll all bail if I try to go outside and take a pic... better to let 'em enjoy the cool water in the bath on this blazing hot day! Here's the pic, ya gotta look pretty closely to see the YHB, but check out how many other birds are on the ground eating the cracked corn, lol. Not all black lumps are birds, I'm still cleaning up pine cones on my property... ;)

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P.S. Don't mind the garden hose in the foreground, in this hot weather when I'm watering twice daily, I don't bother coiling the hose, I just drag it one way across the yard, then drag it back the next time, lol. I actually have two 100' garden hoses on my property, with both I can reach every corner of the lot. Going back to the pic, YHB is at left on the edge of the birdbath! 😎
 
Hotter than blazes out there, forecast said 105 or 106 but my porch thermometer is reading 116* F! Of course, it may not be accurate, but it's definitely HOT out there! I noticed my birdbaths were getting low, so I prepped a sack of ice and a gallon of cold tap water to add to the baths... stepped out the back door on the west side and saw what appeared to be a juvenile hawk standing in the birdbath on that side (it's the only bath in the shade at this hour). The hawk flew away, but after I finished topping off all three baths, the hawk returned to the west side bath and has spent the past 20 minutes just standing in the water, lol. No dummy, that bird... I wonder if its talons got burnt somehow, and the bird is actually administering first aid? I wouldn't doubt it, hot as any metal is that's exposed to the sun. Anyway, here's the bird, I couldn't get any closer without scaring it away, and my windows are filthy on that side, lol... one of these days, I'll clean 'em, I usually don't notice because I have curtains up anyway to filter the sunshine. 😬

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Now, the young hawk looks to be around 14" in length... you don't suppose it's an adult falcon of some sort? Falcons are usually pretty fast, and this bird flies more like a hawk. I just checked and the bird is still out there, just standing in the water and cooling its feet... er, I mean talons. No other birds in sight, of course, this one is scaring away the rest. Oh, well, raptors have to drink too, especially on days this hot! I hope it's not gonna set up shop here, I don't mind an occasional visit but I don't want all the other birds scared away... 😳

I gotta admit, it IS pretty cool, having my own raptor! I wonder if Tiger would even try to attack this bird? My money would be on Tiger, but he's no dummy either... he might just let it slide, lol. It'd be one helluva scrap! I just checked again, and the bird is gone... it spent roughly half an hour standing in the iced birdbath! I'm gonna add ice cubes and additional cold tap water to the baths every day, as long as this brutal heat wave continues! That was really cool, having a hawk in the birdbath! Poor bird must be exhausted from the heat... 🥵
 
I'm thinking I should clean at least one corner of the nearest window so I can get a clearer shot, lol... I'll add it to the list of 1000 tasks yet to be done! ;)

After consulting my field guides again, I think that was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, the coloring and tail bars matched... I know y'all can't see the bars in these pics, but they were there, lol. :cool:

When I was in Arizona, I bought $100 worth of field guides from the nearest Ranger Station, the guides are those folding, plastic-coated kind which resemble restaurant menus. Nice guides, full color and everything! 🤔

Edit: Here are some of my field guides, I also bought some USFS maps which rounded out the C-note, lol. The 'Birds Of Prey' guide shows different "morphs" and also juvenile colors, which is a nice feature of that particular guide. :)

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Ya know, it could've been a Peregrine Falcon too, we have those in the nearby mountains, they like cliff faces... or even hard dirt faces, lol. I briefly considered the Gyrfalcon, until I saw it hangs out in northern Canada and Alaska. :rolleyes:

Wait, strike the Peregrine Falcon, I'm not seeing the lighter color on the side of the bird's head... but we DO have Peregrine Falcons here! This bird isn't as fast as a Peregrine Falcon in flight though... so I'm going with Cooper's Hawk, lol. 😬

Okay, this clinches it: see those white dots (or lighter dots) above or behind the wing in the guide? Well, the bird in the bath had those very same dots, so it must have been a young Cooper's Hawk. Not always easy to tell birds apart, lol... :confused:
 
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Well, looks like the hawk is moving in... he was back at the bath on the west side of my home, standing in the water and taking an occasional drink. It's like Club Med out there! Next thing ya know, the goldurned bird is gonna set up a chaise-lounge with oversized beach towel... probably start stealing beer outta my fridge too! 😒

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I'm drawing the line when the goldurned bird starts hogging the TV remote!!! The BLASTED VARMINT!!! ;)
 
Seeing raptors and having them sit still long enough to watch them is a great experience.

I saw a man earlier this summer at the dog park who was a former student of mine. One time when he was in my class, his dad was driving down the highway and saw a big bird get hit. He turned around and picked the bird up. Student brought it to school. We studied it, examined it, measured it (18 inches long), and found it in my bird ID book. It was a prairie falcon. It was a gorgeous bird and being able to study it was a big hit. Dad was busy talking and showing the bird to people. He got a knock on his door. Game warden confiscated the bird.
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Wingnut said:
Well, looks like the hawk is moving in... he was back at the bath on the west side of my home, standing in the water and taking an occasional drink. It's like Club Med out there! Next thing ya know, the goldurned bird is gonna set up a chaise-lounge with oversized beach towel... probably start stealing beer outta my fridge too! 😒

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I'm drawing the line when the goldurned bird starts hogging the TV remote!!! The BLASTED VARMINT!!! ;)
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Get it a pool!!
 
The hawk is back! I woke from an unintentional nap and stumbled out to see the hawk doing "squats" in the birdbath, feathers all ruffled so the bird looked bigger. For a moment, I thought I was still asleep and having a bad dream... trapped in Venice Beach with Hulk Hogan or Ah-nold Schwarzenegger pumping iron in the birdbath, lol. Yikes!!! :oops:

I wish I'd had my camera handy, but I thought the hawk was gone, since I never saw it yesterday. I'm gonna keep the camera handy and try to get some closer pics of the bird, which is really beautiful (unless you're small enough to be a food item, lol). I DID get some closer views of the hawk today as I stepped outside to replenish the baths and add ice... :)

The hawk actually stood in the bath until I was about 25' away, then the bird rose to a nearby tree branch, and flew a little farther to another tree as I dealt with the first bath. As I walked toward the second bath, the hawk took off and a flock of doves exploded from a nearby tree... the hawk immediately wheeled after 'em, but I didn't see any doves get whacked. :rolleyes:

I gotta say, the hawk in flight is magnificent, just absolutely gorgeous! I'd like to get a shot of it wheeling in midair the way it did when it veered toward those fleeing doves... I had a full view of its outspread wings, like an angle shot taken during a WWI aerial dogfight scene, lol. This hawk is a youngster which is on the verge of adulthood, so it's in good shape. 🤔

Haven't seen the hawk again since that earlier encounter, but I reckon the bird will be back, and I'm gonna try walking out with the camera ready next time. Would've done it today but I wasn't expecting the hawk to be there in the bath. I gotta say that the smaller birds really like the ice added to the baths along with cold tap water... when the hawk's not around, lol. 😎
 
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Wingnut said:
Many raptors are protected, otherwise some idiots would kill 'em just for the feathers... 😒
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Total felony to shoot hawks here, if they're after your chickens or cats, tough!
 
Here I'd probably get away with it, but I don't think this hawk is big enough yet to threaten my cats... maybe Black Diamond, she's the smallest. Little Z-Girl disappeared long before this hawk appeared, still no sign of her either, which isn't so good. Anyway, the hawk just hit the bath again, I tried an outside pic but had no success, though I did get this shot from the mud room:

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Wingnut said:
Here I'd probably get away with it, but I don't think this hawk is big enough yet to threaten my cats... maybe Black Diamond, she's the smallest. Little Z-Girl disappeared long before this hawk appeared, still no sign of her either, which isn't so good. Anyway, the hawk just hit the bath again, I tried an outside pic but had no success, though I did get this shot from the mud room:

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It's enjoying the oasis!!
 
Wingnut said:
Here I'd probably get away with it, but I don't think this hawk is big enough yet to threaten my cats... maybe Black Diamond, she's the smallest. Little Z-Girl disappeared long before this hawk appeared, still no sign of her either, which isn't so good. Anyway, the hawk just hit the bath again, I tried an outside pic but had no success, though I did get this shot from the mud room:

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Hang your little screamer up a piece of meat.
 
Made a test video this morning, can't remember if I put the camera in "zoom" mode... but this was only a test, lol. Here's a link to the very short video (11 seconds), I reckon it's easier to just post a link rather than try to upload the video here. :cool:

Hawk In Birdbath
 
I'm trying to get the hawk used to my presence, so I can get some closer shots... the trick is to appear nonthreatening, and casually move closer when the bird is not looking, lol. If I can get the camera zoom going next time, I should be able to get some good footage. I hafta mess with the camera and figure out how to zoom in while it's recording video... 🤔
 
Forgot to post these shots yesterday, they just show two of my three birdbaths with ice added to the water in the heat of the day, lol... y'all like my one pineapple birdbath? It's for any Hawaiian birds who get out of route, kinda like Pearl's mail! 🤣

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I'll tell y'all, the birds really like that iced water when we have triple-digit temps! The ice is a big hit! 🥵

Edit: Just finished adding ice and topping off the baths for today, and boy, are those birds lovin' the cooler water... the ice never lasts long in this heat, but it lowers the water temp considerably and the birds are all happy, lol. 🐦🦜🐦
 
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