The Red-Tail Hawk is back using the same nest as last year for this year’s breeding season. Yipee!
On the 15th while on my walk I think I spied a little head so when I got home I grabbed my camera and went back out to take photos of the nest and sure enough there was a chick in the nest and Mom too.
Red-Tail Hawk and sleepy chick
It wasn’t long before Mom took flight to stretch her wings. She flew into a tree across the way a bit to keep watch and once in awhile she called out letting the chick know she was near…I think. I kept waiting hoping the chick would sit up and it paid off.
Red-tail Hawk Chick
Look how fuzzy and soft it looks! 2 weeks later look how big it is and there’s less fuzz and more brown.
Red-tail Hawk Chick
The tree has leafed out quite a bit too making it a bit more difficult to see the chick. This is heavily cropped as well.
I’ll keep checking in on it and hopefully, I won’t miss the fledging like I did last year.
The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think. Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.
Birds are amazingly adapted for life in the air. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, yet even the biggest females weigh in at only about 3 pounds. A similar-sized small dog might weigh 10 times that.
The “Harlan’s Hawk” breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada, and winters on the southern Great Plains. This very dark form of the Red-tailed Hawk has a marbled white, brown, and gray tail instead of a red one. It’s so distinctive that it was once considered a separate species, until ornithologists discovered many individuals that were intermediate between Harlan’s and more typical Red-tailed Hawks.
Courting Red-tailed Hawks put on a display in which they soar in wide circles at a great height. The male dives steeply, then shoots up again at an angle nearly as steep. After several of these swoops he approaches the female from above, extends his legs, and touches her briefly. Sometimes, the pair grab onto one other, clasp talons, and plummet in spirals toward the ground before pulling away.
Red-tailed Hawks have been seen hunting as a pair, guarding opposite sides of the same tree to catch tree squirrels.
The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months old when it was found in Michigan in 2011, the same state where it had been banded in 1981.
While visiting Big Baby Boy and The Dark Haired Beauty earlier this month I went out early one morning to photograph the flowers that were in bloom and saw to my delight an Allen’s Hummingbird male flitting around and landing on a Bottlebrush Bush.
Going for a sipA bit miffed and ready to flyBye–Bye!
I haven’t seen these or hardly any Hummers where I live now so this really was a treat seeing this one. Aren’t his colors wonderful.
Male and female Allen’s Hummingbirds use different habitats during the breeding season. The male sets up a territory overseeing open areas of coastal scrub or chaparral, where he perches conspicuously on exposed branches. The female visits these areas, but after mating she heads into thickets or forests to build a nest and raise the young.
Allen’s Hummingbirds breed in a narrow strip of habitat along coastal Oregon and California. But within their tiny range two subspecies occur. One (Selasphorus sasin sasin) migrates to a small area in Mexico for the winter while the other (S. s. sedentarius) stays put in southern California year-round.
The Allen’s Hummingbird is a remarkably early migrant compared with most North American birds. Northbound birds may depart their wintering grounds as early as December, arriving on their breeding grounds as early as January when winter rains produce an abundance of flowers.
Like other birds, Allen’s Hummingbirds use their feet to help control their body temperature. When it’s cold outside they tuck their feet up against their bellies while flying, but when temperatures soar, they let their feet dangle to cool down.
The oldest recorded Allen’s Hummingbird was at least 5 years 11 months old when she was captured and rereleased in California during banding operations in 2009. She was banded in the same state in 2004.~allaboutbirds.org
It’s going to be blustery and chilly here this week-end with maybe some snow and rain in the mountains so, I’ll be near home this week-end. I hope you have something fun planned!
Last week-end we went down to SoCal to visit Big Baby Boy and the Dark Haired Beauty for several days. It was lovely walking on the beach and in the canyon with them and just hanging out. We talked about their upcoming wedding a bunch, and how that’s going. It’s coming up so fast! Less than 8 weeks to go now! I’ve got my dress and hat and He-Man’s good to go suit wise too, So far everything is falling into place so, it should be beautiful.
I also passed a milestone last Thursday…I turned 65 years young. There are many days my body feels 65 but, not my spirit! I’m still a kid inside. 😀
There were lots of cultivated flowers in late stages of their bloom around Big Baby Boy’s, some I’ve missed because they just don’t grow where we live. Here are a few;
HibiscusBird of Paradise? I don’t know what this is called
Sunday we had heavy clouds predicted and strong winds and sure enough they rolled in all day just in time for the Lunar Eclipse. I hoped there would a pocket or two of clear sky in the Moon’s path so I could see and photograph just one frame. There was a nice pocket along the mountain tops so I quickly made a few images of the Moon as it crested the mountains. It was already in Totality by then as well. It was very different from last year’s May Lunar Eclipse when there was a clear sky.
Totality Lunar Eclipse May 15, 2022
It quickly rose into the clouds and I didn’t see it again that night.
We’re going to see Baby Girl and the boys later this week to celebrate her birthday, my birthday, and Mother’s Day. I’m looking forward to that.
The weather has definitely warmed up here. It was 81 degrees yesterday and just as warm today, so I put out the patio cushions and spent a lovely hour out back chatting with the neighbor. How’s the weather where you are? Ready for summer?
While out for good long walk along the river recently I spied a Spring/ Summer visitor perched on a fence. The Western Kingbird. They’re one of the birds with lovely yellow in their coloring that visit here.
I think they’re so cheery with their bright yellow feathers, and gray heads.
They are in the Flycatcher family that hunts flying insects from its perch on a fence, trees, or utility wires.
They’re also famous for chasing and scolding intruders like Red-tailed Hawks, and American Kestrels.
The Western Kingbird’s breeding range has been spreading for the last century as an unplanned result of human activities. By planting trees and installing utility poles in open areas, people have provided hunting perches and nest sites, and by clearing forests they have created open habitats suitable for foraging.
Though known as birds of the West, Western Kingbirds tend to wander during fall migration. They show up along the East Coast, between Florida and Newfoundland, every autumn—but only rarely during the spring. In 1915 Western Kingbirds began spending winters in Florida, where they are now regular winter residents.
Western Kingbirds aggressively fend off predators and other kingbirds from their territories. The males warn off intruders with harsh buzzes or whirring wings. Both males and females snap their bills and raise their red crowns (normally hidden under gray feathers on their heads) when provoked. As the breeding season wears on, each pair defends a smaller and smaller territory. By mid-incubation time the territory includes the nest tree and little else.
The Western Kingbird was originally known as the Arkansas Kingbird, but scientists changed its name to acknowledge its wide range across western North America.
The oldest Western Kingbird on record was a male, and at least 6 years, 11 months old, when he was found in South Dakota. ~allaboutbirds.org
We’ve been having big, strong winds lately so my sinus’ are a bit of a mess, but we’re looking at nice sunny days for the week-end here and hopefully the wind mellows out too.
I’ve been thinking about photographing the upcoming Lunar Eclipse. I won’t be able to see the entire thing from start to finish, but I’ll be able to see Totality. I’ll probably just photograph it from my yard. What about you, are you planning to watch it or photograph it?
I hope you all have a lovely week-end, and to all the Mom’s and Grandmother’s, I wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day! 🌼💗
I hope everyone had a lovely week-end. We shared our holiday with Baby Girl and her family and had loads of fun.
We dyed Eggs for the Easter bunny to hide and the colors came out so pretty. We used Baby Girl’s fresh from the coop eggs which are mostly brown eggs. We had to leave the eggs in the dye longer but it was so worth it. Look at these colors! I love the red and green ones the best.
Dyed Easter Eggs
Instead of chocolates we took the kids cookies to paint. We found the kits at Costco and it was fun. Even the teenage Grand-daughters enjoyed painting their cookies. There was enough for me to do one so I painted along with a couple of the kids. They ate their cookies as soon as they finished painting them so I didn’t get a photo, unfortunately.
Painted Easter Egg Cookie
Later in the afternoon the youngest Grand-daughter taught me how to drive the little red Quad and after two loops I was zipping around the property having a blast. I can’t wait to ride it again. I plan to go down the harder roads on their property then!
Me zipping by on the quad. Image courtesy of Baby Girl.
Let’s go back to my camping trip and look up at the stars from Mono Lake.
” Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.”~ Henry Van Dyke
Star Trails over Mono Lake, Tufas. 107 frames
There was quite a bit of airline traffic that night as you see. I took out a couple of airline tracks that were red and distracting I thought.
I hope everyone had a great week-end, and you’re glad of life this week and always!
We had #1 Grandson with us last week which was so nice. One of the things we did was visit an Animal Sanctuary in No. Reno called Animal Ark. My favorite were the Cheetahs. Here are two. One wanted to play but, the other wasn’t interested at all so, they’re just chillin.
Cheetahs
Here’s a rare look at #1 Grandson. We had fun measuring our arms comparing them to wingspans of No. American birds. Mine was the same as a Turkey Vulture.
#1 Grandson’s is as large as a Red-tailed Hawk
All too soon it was time to take him home.
The week before his visit I had gone birding locally and saw some good birds. One I was super excited about seeing was the Pinyon Jay. I’ve been waiting for their Spring arrival so I could try again getting a decent image of one. This bird was a lifer for me in 2019 but, they were flying by so fast then that I failed to get a decent shot of one. Finally, on this walk-about I got a few but, that tree on the right is in the way. I was afraid to get any closer and scare it off which I eventually did anyway. 😮 They travel and forage in large flocks- on this day I counted 17 in all.
Photograph
Spring is breaking out all over the west now. When we took #1 Grandson home I noticed Baby Girl’s Apple tree was blooming so I took a quick snap of a blossom.
Apple blossom
I’ve been doing some projects from the book by Wendy Tait- Watercolor Flowers. This is project #2 Roses.
Photograph
I’ve painted 3 of these now- 1 8×10 in. and 2 5X7in. I’m making progress getting my paint to water ratio right, and blending is definitely improving. There are 8 projects in the book with step by step directions and images. I like the book a lot. I’m moving on to project 3 hopefully I’ll continue to improve.
Tomorrow I’m meeting friends down in the Mono Basin to do some photography and camping. I’m hoping for good weather, and clear night skies. I hope you all are having a good week, and your week-end is fun!
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