A departing adult Redtail near Holister, CA.
Focusing on this guy made me miss the high point of an epic Redtail vs. Golden Eagle encounter... but... hey, it's a Western Bluebird. He was doing an imitation of MC Hammer's typewriter dance down the wire... worth it.
A lady Kestrel flares off the line.
Occasionally you'll see a Redtail on a wire but they tend to prefer a sturdier perch where they can hone their skills at impersonating insulators.
This guy is a regular in Panoche Valley but seeing him is hit or miss. One of the prettiest birds in California.
This is the area in the valley that I call "Merlin Alley" but it was devoid of little dark falcons on this day. It made up for it with the dark morph buteo.
This is where I found him. I was glad he stayed put after I stopped since almost every other bird had been skittish that day.
A glimpse of the rare Ferruginous Bear.
Eventually he spotted something in the distance and made his move.
A glorious sight that I hope we can continue to see for years to come, a Ferruginous Hawk over Panoche Valley.
I wish Prairie Falcons weren't so skittish, but maybe the rarity of close encounters is what makes them so special. So to see 4 of them on my recent trip out to Panoche Valley was unexpected.
Such amazing birds. Ability to write decent caption... compromised...
A storm of blackbirds results from a Prairie swooping in and landing on the power pole below.
Check out those dark axillaries... a nice field mark for a Prairie Falcon that you can easily see from a distance.
Definitive proof that falcons can keep a close eye on you even when they are flying away.
I'd heard reports of people seeing 10-14 Golden Eagles near Quien Sabe Road near Panoche Valley so I went to see for myself. Within 4 minutes of turning onto the road I saw a distant Golden and once I rounded the bend another flew overhead.
A few minutes later I spotted this pair resting together on a hillside.
They seemed to like flying together as well.
There were even more eagles toward Santa Ana Valley Road.
Near Paicines Reservoir yet another Golden flew over the water followed by a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. Later while I was focusing on some Western Bluebirds I heard a Redtail scream and looked up to see the pair aggressively driving the Golden away.
In this shot the eagle is completely inverted after throwing it talons up at the Redtail which drifted away, satisfied that the eagle had gotten the message.
I'll close out this post with a young Golden Eagle, also from the area near Quien Sabe.
A Loggerhead Shrike on the hunt in Panoche Valley.
