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Holy Cow! What a SHOT! Surfer-dude crow!

Bville: You are soooo "the it girl" when it comes to those maps!!! So much fun to see how you've put it all together for us. They are fantastic! Thank you! Now I have even more locations to scout for various winged creatures the next time I'm there!

Catbird: You're right... the San Diego Zoo is, indeed, a very wonderous zoo. ... as is the San Diego Wild Animal Park (both in the same organization). They also do tremendous work in the area of education, and conservation of species (both flora and fauna). School busloads of school children come from all over to have a wonderful day's field trip at one or the other location, just about every day throughout the whole school year. And when school is out, both places are hugely popular with families from all over the world. I hear dozens of languages being spoken through the zoos, whenever I visit there. That clouded leopard is so much more beautiful in person. Any photo could not possibly to it justice. It's got one of the most gorgeous coats I've ever seen on any of the big cats... She's simply a very pretty kitty : )

bobdmac: That black bird riding the flying redtail reminded me of the old-time wing walkers of the 30's and 40's. My mom (many moons ago) played the lead in a play titled "Wings" about an aphasic, post-stroke victim who had once, in her youth, been a wing walker.... Anyway, that photo just struck my funny bone as being the avian version of that. What a crack-up!!! ... Definitely not something one sees every day!....

Catbird: Nor does one see a redtail on the paper towel dispenser in a public restroom every day... and in a bar!!!.... SHEESH... That guy must have gone straight to an A.A. meeting after that one wore off!!!!

socal:

bobdmac: That black bird riding the flying redtail reminded me of the old-time wing walkers of the 30's and 40's. My mom (many moons ago) played the lead in a play titled "Wings" about an aphasic, post-stroke victim who had once, in her youth, been a wing walker.... Anyway, that photo just struck my funny bone as being the avian version of that. What a crack-up!!! ... Definitely not something one sees every day!

Yes, Socal! I was thinking exactly the same thing. As a kid, I used to love to go to airshows, which usually featured a wing walker. It also made me think of that old Nat King Cole song, "Straighten up and Fly Right."

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

While trying to find something else, I ran across this of a leucistic redtailed hawk. At least I think it is leucistic. Not albino because it does have dark eyes and some dark coloring on feathers. http://flickr.com/photos/hard-rain/853322905/

As dark as this photo is, I found it so striking that I had to post it. It's by Kitundu, the San Francisco photographer who did the "Patch" photo album. I don't recall seeing this picture in it. It's as scary a photo of a red-tail hawk as you're likely to see, particularly with its nictitating membranes closed, giving it a sort of ghoulish look.

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

Okay, back to the lighter side again. This photo just made me laugh out loud. I'm posting the link, rather than the photo, because the caption explains it so well.

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

Catbird: That pale red-tailed hawk is very beautiful... almost ethereal looking. I wonder how rare that is...

bobdmac: Please, no more scary photos! This is right before my bedtime!!!!
But thanks for the funny one of the silly crow hanging upside down, with the redtail looking at him with cocked head as if to say..."hmmm... I wonder if he'll simply pass out from blood rushing too fast to his head.... an easy dinner if he does... I think I'll just wait this one out."

Catbird:

While trying to find something else, I ran across this of a leucistic redtailed hawk. At least I think it is leucistic. Not albino because it does have dark eyes and some dark coloring on feathers. http://flickr.com/photos/hard-rain/853322905/

Catbird, from what I've read about the subject, I think you're right about the terminology. Here's another one, with the same dark eyes, but even whiter. What a striking bird!

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

Bobdmac: Despite their fixed anterior face structure, I do think that hawks, at least redtails do have facial expressions, but maybe it is more around the eyes and the bit of ruffling they do with the feathers on the tops of their heads, but this redtail looking at the acrobatic (mooning the redtail maybe?) crow, definitely has an expression of disbelief, and perhaps some disdain. "WHERE is your dignity, you stupid bird?" That leucistic redtail is stunning, ethereal, angelic. I followed some of the links on that page to more of the redtail leucistic photos. That horror movie photo IS a horror. Shudder. I suppose the hawk closes the nictating membranes at the moment of the kill, to protect its eyes from injury? It surely is a nightmare picture. I agree with Socal there. And bobdmac, I was so pleased to see your photos on PMI - interesting that the urban turkeys show the same lack of caution of humans that the urban redtails do, and the rural wild turkeys are as unapproachable as the rural redtails and eagles. Amazing that you were so close to them, only 20 feet! I can't get nearly that close to my yard squirrels or birds! Would the Berkley turkeys have flown away if frightened, or have run away? I don't really know how "flighted" wild turkeys are?

Catbird, I agree about the city vs. country behavior. In fact, I just wrote to Donegal about how the difference in turkey behavior paralleled the difference in hawk behavior. As for whether the Berkeley turkeys (I want to say "Berkeley turkleys") would have run or flown, I'm not sure. I think they're pretty good runners, with long, strong legs, but they're also good flyers, with really broad wings, giving them lots of surface area.

Speaking of urban hawks, I just passed this link on to Donegal. It's by the guy who took that scary hawk shot and the Krazy Krow shots. He's really a phenomenal talent.

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

bobdmac: That "screaming gopher" photo did come from the Patch album, #30 in the Predatory Behavior set: That whole album is simply the best. The rest of his gallery, as well.
http://www.kitundu.com/patch/index.html

Oh, and "Berkeley turkleys," hahaha...  That's a good one, so good that I suspect you will never escape that attribution.

Here's another shot of one of the Berkeley turkleys, to give you an idea of the neighborhood and the "out for a stroll" flavor of the scene.

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

What a pretty street for a nice afternoon stroll!!!

Bobdmac: Besides being talented, I suspect that Patch photographer, gopher-kill photographer, must have awesome lenses. I agree with others here, who have noted that it takes more than great lenses, though, to get the great wildlife photos. It takes timing, instinct, sense of lighting, angles, shadows, higlights, framing, awareness of background, quickness, knowledge of the subject's behavior patterns, awareness of surroundings, opportunity, luck (lots of luck) and infinite patience. I love the ambling Berkley Turkleys, and love the alliteration too! I found more about habitat: "The wild turkey lives in hardwood and mixed conifer-hardwood forests with openings like fields, pastures, orchards and marshes." In the ambling-down-the-lane photo, there seems to be plenty of brush/woods, and I guess streets, sidewalks, and suburban yards and gardens are the urban substitute for the "pastures" that they love. I wonder how much behavior change there is in wild turkeys who become urbanized, as compared to redtails? As to what they eat? 'It eats acorns, nuts, seeds, fruits, insects, buds fern fronds and salamanders. It usually forages on the ground in flocks, scratching in the earth to uncover food. The wild turkey feeds during the day. It roosts in trees at night." There seem to be plenty of trees for roosting in, in Berkley! No clue as to the varieties of hardwoods there or availability of oaks/acorns, but certainly spill-over from bird feeders would provide seeds aplenty. Are salamanders plentiful in Berkley? Interestingly: "The wild turkey can be found throughout the eastern United States from extreme southern Canada south to northern Mexico and east to Arizona. It is also found in isolated pockets in some western states, where it has been introduced." That would seem to imply that the Berkley Turkleys have been introduced to California? I can't find anything about migration, but if the wild turkey is not native to California, then perhaps habitat pressure in rural areas, is pressuring them into at least enlarging their range substantially?

Catbird, I absolutely agree with you about Walter Kitundu, the "Patch" photographer. I've spent a couple of hours exploring the archives of his blog, Bird Light Wind, in which he talks about waiting for hours for certain shots. He also follows birding clubs' reports of sightings and has found several locations in a 10-mile or so radius that provide an astonishing variety of avian activity, such as herons hunting gophers, hummingbird territorial disputes, and many varieties of raptors. Certainly the lenses and camera provide the stunningly sharp detail, but you can't deny his esthetic command of light, shadow, composition, and timing.

As for the turkeys, I don't know when they arrived here, but I've seen them in California for more than a decade, in open areas and parks close to or even within the city limits before, but never in the middle of a city block. So I'm inclined to agree with you that their growing population encourages them to broaden their search for food. For what it's worth, here's a lengthy discussion of the native vs. non-native question.

The Berkeley/Oakland hills, which are within the city limits, have extremely rich habitats, thanks in large part to land that's owned by the East Bay Regional Park District and watershed  land owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District.  There is, however, a surprising variety of urban wildlife in the flatlands between the hills and San Francisco Bay. It's common to see possums and racoons, for instance, in back yards or even crossing the street occasionally. With a few drought years in the past couple of decades, more people (particularly in Berkeley) have used native, drought-resistant plants to landscape their yards, which provides a greater variety of seeds and promotes a more diverse ecosystem. For instnace, here's a photo of a yard where they apparently found some food, because they spent a little while in it.

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