Cooper’s Hawk on a Fence

I startled a ground squirrel while looking for something that was chirping in a fenced-off area of a park with a pair of transmission towers.

The squirrel hid, but this hawk – which I suspect was looking for the squirrel – flew out and perched on the fence for a few minutes before flying up to one of the lower struts on the nearer tower.

A brown and white hawk with a yellow hooked beak and hellow talons perched on a narrow beam against a blue sky.

A brown and white hawk perched on a chain link fence, seen roughly on a level, with blurry trees and telephone poles in the background.

#photo #birds #nature #hawk #CoopersHawk

On Photog.Social

I heard repeated chirping from a fenced-off area of a park with a pair of transmission towers. As I got closer, I couldn’t spot a bird doing the chirping, but I did see a ground squirrel hiding under a small palm tree. I took a photo from a distance, then moved closer, at which point I startled the squirrel, which ran into one of the holes, and also a hawk, which flew from who knows where inside the fenced area to the edge of the fence. I was able to walk around and get some nice clear shots of the hawk, both as it sat on the fence and after it flew up onto one of the lower struts of the nearer tower.

On iNaturalist

We have a flock – or more likely several flocks – of feral parakeets in town. I saw these two going after the sunflowers in someone’s front yard.

Mostly green - two green birds perched on the back of a mature sunflower stalk with broad leaves, leaning over to get at the seeds.

A bright green bird seen from below against a blue sky, perched on a cable, grooming its wing.

We have a flock – or more likely several flocks – of feral parakeets in town. I saw these two going after the sunflowers in someone's front yard. #birds

On PixelFed.Social
On iNaturalist (1)

On iNaturalist (2)

Some birds spotted on a hike yesterday morning: a California Towhee and…

Some birds spotted on a hike yesterday morning: a California Towhee (the mature one perched on top of a bush) and a bushtit (looking very birb-like). A whole lot of the latter were flying back and forth between the trees on either side of the path, barely stopping long enough for me to point the camera in the right direction.

#photo #birds #nature #birb

A smallish brown bird, sparrow-like, with a short narrow sharp beak, perched on top of some plant with very small leaves, against a mottled green background.

A small round gray and white bird with a very short, narrow beak, perched on a twig with oblong leaves and clusters of some sort of small red fruit.

On Photog.Social

Towhee on iNaturalist (alt)
Bushtit on iNaturalist (crop)

Two birds spotted while hiking the trails on top of the coastal bluffs

Two birds spotted while hiking the trails on top of the coastal bluffs southwest of Los Angeles. First a lesser goldfinch, which took me forever to actually catch on camera (there were 3 or 4 of them flitting around and not stopping for very long anywhere!) and a black phoebe that was perched a few yards from the trail.

#birds #photo #nature #finch #phoebe

A small bird, black on top and yellow below, with a short thick beak, perched among the stems of a plant with spiky seed pods and yellow flowers.
Lesser Goldfinch on iNaturalist

A small black bird with a white belly and a short, narrow beak, perched on top of a bush in front of a blurry brown and green background.
Black Phoebe on iNaturalist

On Photog.Social

Pair of Red-tailed Hawks

I heard these hawks calling to each other, then they each landed on this tower. I thought I saw a third one land there too, but by the time I was in a position to take any pictures, there were only the two. After a minute or two, a group of three smaller birds showed up and chased one of the hawks off. A few minutes later, the other flew off to join it, and I could see them circling together off in the distance.

On iNaturalist
On iNaturalist