community.kjrh.com

socal:

catgirl wrote: There are several of one of the KJRH hawks in a tree (being harassed by their feathered friends, or is it fiends) - just wondering about identification - consensus please!!!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheryls_camera/2604766949/ O.K. catgirl, my official vote here is that the hawk in that tree is Jay. White eyebrows, red tail. !

Make that one more vote for Jay.

socal:

catgirl wrote: "I have added a few more photos that I took today (as well as a few from Friday). There are several of one of the KJRH hawks in a tree (being harassed by their feathered friends, or is it fiends) - just wondering about identification - consensus please!!!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheryls_camera/2604766949/ O.K. catgirl, my official vote here is that the hawk in that tree is Jay. White eyebrows, red tail. Can see them on double-clicking the various shots into the larger versions. Great pictures! My camera wouldn't do anywhere near as well! But then, it would be hard to zoom in from Vista, CA to Tulsa, OK anyway... Much appreciated!

I was all set to be the contrarian, but then I saw this picture with the light tan head and those distinctive eye markings––it's Jay, no doubt:




And this picture was so cool, I just had to post it here for you, Catgirl:

Thunder in flight




Thanks so much for all the great shots, Catgirl. You were smart to pay attention to the ruckus made by the other birds. Jay was pretty well hidden among the leaves of that tree.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling

These photos with text were forwarded to me by a friend. Not hawks, but great photos for birdlovers.....This lady lives in a Hummingbird fly zone. As they migrated,about 20 of them were in her yard. She took the little red dish, filled it with sugar water and this is the result....She has been studying them daily and one morning put the cup from the feeder, with water in it, in her hand; as they had gotten used to her standing by the feeder they came over to her hand. She says in touching they are as light as a feather.

Bville - I would give anything to be able to have a hummingbird in my hand.  Thanks for sharing the pics.

Yes, what a dream it must be. I like the way the one little fella (in the third photo) has his/her beak open! Also the brilliant red throat on a second, and the translucence of the wings on the third.

WOW bville those are neat. (thought I would try a different word! Running out of them!) I've always thought hummingbirds were so amazing.  Thank you for sharing those pictures!!

I've heard so many negative words all my life that my vocabulary is short on the positive descriptive words! LOL!!!!

You people are wonderful

Observer:

WOW bville those are neat....You people are wonderful.

Thank you, we--all of us--are a pretty neat group.

Those hummingbird pictures are indeed magical. Every time we have a hummingbird nearby I think of my late sister. Her favorite bird was the hummingbird, and she had a feeder right outside her kitchen sink window that she loved to watch. I, too, am mystified by them. I think of them as little Tinkerbells.... the little magical, delicate fairies of the avian kingdom. That friend of your friend is sooo lucky, Bville, to live in that Hummingbird migration trajectory! Thanks for posting it!!! That's another lift in my day! : )

Hey gang...Check out Russell's new videos on the main hawk page!!! They're excellent! Especially for those of us that missed out on the real-time action!
RUSSELL THANK YOU FOR THOSE NEW VIDEOS!!!

RE the hummingbirds: I neglected to mention that the locale of the photo is Pine, Louisiana. While looking for that town online, I discovered that the woman in the photo actually has a website talking about this experience. (I hadn't included her name due to a concern for privacy.) Apparently, the photos have really made the forwarded-email rounds; so she decided to put the photos on her website, with a bit more description of the encounter.  http://www.abigailsings.com/hummingbirds/index.html

What remarkable story of that couple's photos being sent around the globe!..I was happy to read about the justice that was served on that person that stole one of their pictures, claiming it as her own and winning a contest with it! I also enjoyed her music! I'm a huge Simon and Garfunkel fan, and listening to their YouTube clip of her group singing "Homeward Bound" had me choked up as it does every time I hear the S. & G. version!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wjJyLXzCTwI

Thanks Bville.... again! : )

Here is a photo from a raptor rehab website.  

http://www.medinaraptorcenter.org/redtailedhawk.html

This is a leucistic redtail hawk: it lacks all pigments, including melanin. This is slightly different from albinism. An even better, closeup photo of this bird, named Cloud, is available on this Flickr site:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamilton_images/2484386259/

Bville:

Here is a photo from a raptor rehab website.  

http://www.medinaraptorcenter.org/redtailedhawk.html

This is a leucistic redtail hawk: it lacks all pigments, including melanin. This is slightly different from albinism. An even better, closeup photo of this bird, named Cloud, is available on this Flickr site:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamilton_images/2484386259/

What a gorgeous hawk! That photographer takes some great pics of birds! I think my poor little digital camera is not going to be up to the job I'd hope for when it comes to snapping pics of the birds in the aviaries when I go to W. A. Park... IF and WHEN it ever cools off! Their aviaries are so awesome. I'm with catgirl now on wanting a better camera with a great zoom lens!... Too expensive, probably... We have travel costs to think about helping our son visit a few times this upcoming year, and our own trip out to Tulsa next year.... It's going to be alot more than we've ever paid before!

I love the close-ups of these raptors. Their faces are incredibly expressive.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling

bobdmac: I FINALLY got around to looking through that whole series of falcon photos... what fantastic pictures! And, I agree with tripsqkr about the captions... They make the whole viewing experience delightful. What a great group of locals there, rallying around that falcon family! Thanks so much for sharing that, bobdmac. By the way, I do sincerely hope that your family and friends all stay safe in those fires in Nor. Cal.!! Pretty awful stuff...very frightening to have to live in such fear with those firestorms happening either in or very close by and threatening your community.

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos, Socal. I like the captions, too. Besides being entertaining, they actually help explain what's going on.

Here's a link to the entire collection of San Jose falcons––more than 500 photos, by quick estimate!

As for the fires, I haven't kept track of all of them. I know there've been a couple to the south of me, near Santa Cruz and farther south, near Big Sur. Fortunately, these areas are not densely populated, but you're right. For the people who are affected, it's indeed traumatic. Fortunately, the only drama in Berkeley right now is the tree sitters protesting planned cutting of some old oaks at the University for a new sports facility.

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"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one" –– A. J. Liebling