SmugMug
Home  Login  Help  
 
 View Cart
Steve Wolfe  > The Red-Tail Hawks of Kaiser Hospital, Harbor City, California > June 15-19 --- Waiting and Feeding
In the week after the whirlwind events of June 11 the activities of the Kaiser Red-tail family seemed to settle down to the hawklets being brought food about 3 times a day or spending time perched on favorite spots, usually on the main hospital building or at a nearby tree. The 3 siblings seem to be venturing outside the Vermont/Normandie/Pacific Coast Highway triangle of the main hospital campus; they've been spotted on the Normandie buildings across the street and I've seen one fly over to Harbor Park, a rich source of food. They still don't appear to be able to hunt on their own yet and Mom is looking, well, increasingly frazzled...There hasn't been a definite sighting of Dad for about 2 weeks; he seems to be like a ghost on the periphery. Friends are jokingly calling him a "deadbeat" or "just another typical guy"...
Gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  >  
< 19 of 31 >
Steve Wolfe > Then finally says, "Oh, sod it!" and jumps off the valve onto the roof.
Steve Wolfe > It looks here as if it's already eaten because it has a "full crop", i.e., the chest area is bulging.
Steve Wolfe > Perhaps it's a good thing that the camera can't make out all the grisly details (or entrails)...
Steve Wolfe > A particularly stubborn piece of...something...
Steve Wolfe > While I'm watching this I'm thinking, "They must have a pretty strong gastrointestinal tract to be able to digest THIS..."
Steve Wolfe > Another gust of wind, but at least it has its feet firmly planted on the roof now...
Steve Wolfe > And then it does something kind of...inexplicable.  It dangles its food over the edge...
Steve Wolfe > And gets dropped. "Oh well, I wasn't that hungry anyway..."
Steve Wolfe > Meanwhile, on the front of the building, another hawklet swivels its head "Exorcist-like" to look back at me. Once again, Charles Preston: " Each eye is protected by a ring of bone and moves only slightly in its socket.  Thus, a raptor must move its entire head to change its viewing perspective.  A flexible neck allows the head to move through an extremely wide range of motion.  It's the next best thing to having eyes in the back of its head [!]"
Then finally says, "Oh, sod it!" and jumps off the valve onto the roof.
 > Then finally says, "Oh, sod it!" and jumps off the valve onto the roof.
Then finally says, "Oh, sod it!" and jumps off the valve onto the roof.
Camera: Panasonic (Dmc-fz20) |
More details: exif |
Original size: 896px x 672px |
Current: 400px x 300px |
Other sizes: Small • M • L |
Share photo: links, forums, blogs |
Keywords: june
Gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  >  
< 19 of 31 >

Comments

| hide gallery comments |

New comment: Requires approval

Name: Email: Link:


Comment on: | Rating: stars
To foil spammers, enter this code: copy this text in this box: Code unreadable?

Add Comment Cancel

News | Browse | Keywords | Communities | Forum | Wiki | ClubSmug | Prints & Gifts | Shopping Cart | Login
Terms | Privacy | About Us | Contact | Blogs | API | Affiliates | © 2010 SmugMug, Inc.
Show FeedsAvailable Feeds | What are feeds?
Gallery Photos:
Atom FeedAtom | RSS FeedRSS