In the Spring, someone asked me where all the Red-tailed Hawks had gone to. They are still around. In fact, we've seen quite a few of them the last few days down in Garner Valley.
We saw 2 Red-shouldered, 4 Red-tailed and a Cooper's Hawk all in one day on Apple Canyon Road.
By far, the most memorable is this Red-tailed Hawk. We found it perched on a boulder with lunch secured between its talons.
We had hoped to identify what kind of snake it was devouring. Perhaps, it would leave a morsel behind for identification. Wrong! It ate every bit of the snake. The last piece was swallowed like a piece of spaghetti.
Besides the impressive hawks, we found some other neat birds. Three young Western Kingbirds were huddled together on a branch quietly awaiting the return of one of their parents with tasty morsels to share. Perhaps, they sensed danger was lurking in the skies nearby.
It's always fun when you can actually see a bird catch an insect. This is one of my favorite Summer birds - the Ash-throated Flycatcher. It won't be around much longer either.
Cool insect of the day goes to this Tarantula Hawk Wasp. Most species of hawk wasps have black antennae but as you can see, this one has orange antennae. The females are quite scary if you happen to be a spider. After paralyzing her victim, she drags it into a hole in the ground. When her eggs become larvae, they have a meal to consume. Yikes!
Finally, all of us who inhabit the mountains are grateful for 3 days of drizzle this past week. This is something to celebrate since our previous precipitation was 3 months ago. If you get rain regularly, enjoy it! It is a rarity in many parts of the world.
Click on photos to enlarge.
Photos and content by Robin Roberts
