Birds on the Fourth

[John H]

I did some bass fishing yesterday morning but the wind beat me up and I caught one bass and left early. It was a good bass so I was happy about that but it was too windy to get a picture. When the wind gets going it is hard to fish and not much fun. I did get a few bird pictures while I was out. In the afternoon I went on a little picnic to get my mom out of the house for the Fourth and got a few more bird shots. I have watched several youtube videos on how to get sharp bird photos and am trying to follow their advice. It is kind of fun to sneak up on them and try to get a shot. The problem is the good photo light is early and late when the bass bite is happening. So far I am not willing to sacrifice the good fishing hours for bird photos. The birds are going to have to wait for the bass to stop biting to get their picture taken.

I hope you had a good Fourth.



I shot this same hawk on the same pole a month ago. I think that is a ground squirrel he is telling me to stay away from.



Great egret in flight.



Snowy egret ready to take off.



Scrub jay sitting on a tombstone. You can see a poop he had just dropped. The tombstone had a picture of the deceased holding some geese he had shot. The scrub jay was not cool with the bird killing and dropped the poop on the tombstone.



A robin under a lawn sprinkler. The falling water droplets are visible.



Male Brewers blackbird witha tasty bug. I think he was waiting for me to leave so he could take it to the nest without me seeing where it was. There was a female with a couple of caterpillars also waiting for me to leave.

[dynaflow]

Nice! Your Hawk looks more like a Peregrine Falcon.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Is it a Red Tailed Hawk?

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/..._Hawk/overview

[willies99]

John,

Is it a dark version of a Swainson's Hawk? They should be around for another couple of months before heading to Argentina.

Dan

[John H]

I think it is a Swainson’s hawk. There is so much color variation in red tails and Swainson’s and juvenile variation that I have a hard time with them. The bright red on the the top of the tail on the red tail is a give away and you can see it when they fly and tip a little but they don’t always have it. My birding knowledge is a work in progress.

[John H]

This is the same bird from a month ago. It looks here like a Swainsons to me but I am no expert. There is a sub species of red tail called the Florida Red Tail. Bill might be able to spot that.