community.kjrh.com

Workaholic:

Ditto on the cool Pic Catgril!! Really neat RC

I second that!!

Catgilr- my guess on the "evening pest" 11/16 is that it is a kestrel, by the shape of the wings and flared tail, and that a kestrel was seen pestering them on the tower last year, too.

Catgirl, I like this silhouete too!Nice shot!

There are two recent posts on Marie Winn's web site regarding hawk and owl pellets, and hawk defecation and terminology that some of you might find interesting.

http://www.mariewinn.com/marieblog/

Hi sallyls...Very interesting. Thanks! : -)

SallyLS: Thank you for that fascinating link to Marie Winn's (and Blakeman's) post on the digestive systems of raptors, from crop to pellets (and pellet contents and what it tells us citizen scientists), to "putting over," to gastroliths, and to slicing/mutes. Who knew! Fascinating information, especially the "putting over," the head weaving and rocking back and forth that the hawk does to settle the food in its crop!

California vineyards use owls and hawks instead of poisons to control rodents who eat and damage vineyards.

http://wine.about.com/od/wineries/a/shaferag.htm


"Owls and Hawks at Work: At Shafer we started our sustainable farming efforts in two ways back in the late 1980s ( see timeline ). First we erected nesting boxes for owls. The owls had to discover the boxes; we didn’t capture them and place them inside. But we had no problem attracting them and within a couple of years we saw 100 percent occupancy. Within a year or so of starting the owl program, we erected perch poles, which attract raptors such as Red shouldered Hawks, Red tailed Hawks, and American Kestrels. The reason we want to attract owls and hawks is simple – we wanted to stop putting rodent poisons in the soil to halt the spread of gophers and moles. Gophers and moles like to tunnel through the ground and eat young vine roots. Between the hawks and owls, we have day and night rodent patrol (hawks feed during the day, while owls are nocturnal hunters). Today thanks to the hawks and owls, our rodent population is under control and no more rodent poisons are in our soil. The work of these raptors is so effective we named our Chardonnay vineyard “Red Shoulder Ranch” to honor them."

CATBIRD I like that story. More places ought to do things like that!!

OK I got a story for you...if I get to finish it!

I have been reading the forum and looking at everyones pictures of all sorts of wonderful wildlife and thinking maybe I should be back in the city!! (not!) You seem to see more and get better chances to take pictures than in the country.

All that time all I could ever get pictures of were Buzzards which we have a lot of flying around:

and of course ducks!

Then there is the endless crows trying to get the ducks corn!

I was excited when I was shooting the buzzards I heard geese and looked up and got some shots of the geese heading south. I thought they were already gone!

And in playing with my new zoom lense I was sitting at the shop looking out the window when I watched these picking up the crushed nuts in the drive. What kind of bird are they? I used a larger size to better see it!

Then the sparrows

Low and behold I had seen a Hawk on the power lines by the house but can never get close. I was sitting looking out the window at home and saw this in the tree outside the window. The picture is taken through the window and screen so isn't very clear! What kind of Hawk is this? Once again larger to see better!

The ultimate of all I was coming home the other day and we have to go across a bridge that is over the river going into Lake Tenkiller right at the mouth. There are all kinds of birds over the lake but you can't stop on the bridge. Anyway a Bald Eagle flew across from one side to the other right in front of me. BEAUTIFUL! It wasn't but about 30 feet in front of me. Of course I was by myself and I was driving so I can only tell about it!! But I had to tell you all about it because you have such wonderful nature stories and I don't !! LOL

Thank you for your time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observer: My my my. You brought tears to my eyes with your beautiful, moving, post, and pictures. Once one has learned to really SEE what is all around us, life is never, ever the same again. It is rich and full and busy and endlessly fascinating. As to the hawk .... well I am the last person to be able to help you, but KC and catgirl and socal will probably know. It has a red *** like a robin's, for heaven's sake. Probably not a Coopers because I think they are more striped. I have heard of red-shouldered hawks but not red-breasted hawks. I will be back later when someone has answered the question of the day and shared it. Temps are dropping here in Illinois like mad and the geese have pretty much passed through for the season, except for those ones that stay year-round at the apartment complex up the road that has a huge lake in it. It is so lovely to hear their raucous honking all through the winter.

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Arrghhh, please ignore all of the above, I don't know what's causing it?! It happens sometimes when I post a website (any ideas?)

ANYWAY--Hi, Observer--Ditto everything Catbird said!
I've been wanting to chime in here, but I'm having server problems that won't allow normal page reloading (or gmail). Also, I can't get Flickr to upload a photo to use here. But below is a site with a photo of a Red-shouldered Hawk with coloration similar to yours. There is indeed some striping, and your hawk, upon close view, seems to have some subtle, light striping.
http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/raptors/Redshouldered.html
Is that other photo of a chickadee?
Congratulations on your splendid observations, and thanks for sharing them with us! I'm going to put your eagle on the eagles map (once my computer snarl is remedied).

Observer, yes that is a Red shouldered hawk, the mature bird like this one is pretty distinctive, the red shoulders of which you cannot really see so well from front.  It is a mature bird, as the juveniles are more light buffy streaked front and brown back and tail similar to a first year RTH. The cute little bird in the gravel eating nuts with the "tuxedo" on is a chickadee; I think probably black-capped race but I am not sure of the different races, let alone in Oklahoma. And your "buzzard" is actually a Turkey Vulture.  You can tell them easily when soaring by the full length "silver lining" under their black wings and the typical "W" shape in which they hold their wings when soaring. It is my understanding that "buzzard" is actually the term used in the old country for a hawk, and that when settlers came to the New World and saw these vultures they thought they were buzard like they had back home and called them by that name.

And an Eagle to boot!  What a day you had!!! Thanks for sharing!

Whew! Got the techno-bug quashed, apparently. Sometimes you just have to turn the whole contraption OFF. Anyway, here's that photo of the red-shouldered hawk I referenced earlier:

Thanks, sallyls for the ID's.
Observer, I put Your Eagle on the Tulsa Eagles Map. Do I have it at the right location?
It's Marker 10.  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=109172823967340280330.000454be715ec122f2c17&ll=36.163406,-96.084452&spn=0.291588,0.576782&z=10

Yes bville that is right on target!! It flew into the trees on the northeast side of the bridge. Great pic of the hawk. Thank you

sallyls Thanks bunches for the explanations! The hawk is very skittish I have seen it from a distance several times but it flies off real quick if I even move in its direction! I couldn't believe it was sitting right outside the window. The vultures or buzzards! LOL! There are some cliffs north of Tahlequah on Scenic highway 10 that runs beside the Illinois River that are called "Buzzards Roost" Maybe I will get a chance to drive up there and get some pictures. I just assumed they were all buzzards that were bigger ( and uglier!) than crows and soaring around in the sky looking for carcusses. Of course Turkey Vulture makes more sense!

There are a couple more pictures on my flickr of a white bird with dark tips on their wings that fly around the lake. If you go to the different sizes on my pictures and look at the largest size you can get a better look at it. Thank you so much!

catbird  as usual you always have something wonderful to say. Priceless!

Thanks all there are more on my flickr if you want to look at them.

The Red-Shouldered Hawk has the russet-red and sometimes variegated breastfeathers. The wing coverts red feathers are hard to spot unless the wings are extended. Just like the Red-Tail, the Red-Shouldered Hawks sometimes do vary in plumage. I have seen adults with a very dark cape and as large as a Red-Tail as well as the lighter colored eastern forms that are smaller.

According to NWF Field Guide to Birds of North America...

Buteo Lineatus, 17" long, 40" wingspan

Subspecies

   Alleni: southeastern US, orange and white barring on chest, strongly barred black and white on back, pale underside on wings. I have seen this form along the Arkansas River west of Tulsa.

   Elegans: also called California west of Rockies and similar Texanus in Texas. Solid orange chest with barring in white below. Red-orange and black-white barring on back. At least one of the adults nesting at Morris Park in Glenpool is of this form.

   Extemis: South Florida, orange-red wing coverts, black and white barring on the wing undersides like a checkerboard, pale gray head and back.

   Nominate:  Eastern US, white chest with dark vertical streaks like juvie red-tail, dark red wing coverts and back.

The Red-Shouldered Hawk is said to not be as nearly widespread as the Red-Tailed Hawk, but there are certainly lots of them about in the Tulsa area.

That tiny bird (blue background)? It is on the tip of my tongue. Might be a rose breasted tufted titmouse but I don't think so. It looks too fat but of course it may be fluffed up for insulation. In the other two photos of it it looks like a junco (aka snowbird). I love juncos. I have no idea what the white bird with black wing tips is. My first thought was a river gull but the wing shape does not seem right. Don't you just love the big zoom lenses? Especially with skittish country hawks and other birds that are not accustomed to having their pictures taken, but of course, in time, they might become easier with it. Donna is still chasing the Dollar redtail in Wisconsin, and then too, Jay and Kay have over time become accustomed to catgirl chasing them around, and Thunder, camera hog that she is, has no issues whatsoever with having her photo taken. I have never seen a turkey vulture excxept for the ones Donna takes photos of when she goes out to Pennsylvania to visit her oldest daughter. And buzzards? I have only seen them on PBS/Nature. That is what comes of being a yard-bird birder. :-) I may not know what I am looking at but I love looking at them!

The Red-Tailed Hawk has the follwoing subspecies

Buteo Jamaicensis, 22" long, 50" wingspan

Subspecies

   Borealis: eastern US, dark brown back with white patches along scapular area, vivid rusty red tail with thin white tip, white belly with dark streaks and checkered underwings.

   Calurus: western US, longer wings with more white baring in dark back, red-brown cape and leading edge of coverts, white wing feathers with brown shoulders.

   Umbrinus: Florida, similar to Borealis but smaller in size.

   Fuertisi: Southwestern US, similar but lighter plumage than Borealis.

   Alascensis: Alaska, most variations of any Red-Tail, anywhere from dark brown like Borealis to pale like Fuertisi.

Rare Subsets:

   Harlani and Kriderii: very pale colorations found mostly in west, but rare specimens found east of Mississippi. Pale Male looks like the image of what used to be called Harlan's Hawk (harlani).

Red-Tails can be found in one variation or another in just about every habitat in North America and Mexico. Most of the forms ranges do cross and I'd bet there is breeding among subsets, thus the variatiosn in plumage int he same areas.