Thursday, 14 August 2008
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Morning Visitor: Guess That Bird!
by Mama Turtle I was the first to get up, and with sleepy eyes and no glasses, I thought I saw "an owl?" perched far away on our fence when I looked out the bathroom window. I went to the kitchen window and could see from there that it was definitely some kind of bird. Turtle1 was up so I told him to get my glasses. That didn't make much of a difference, so I thought "the camera!" But by the time I got the camera out, Turtle1 said it flew away.
But all it really did was fly up closer for its photo op!
That wooden post is some kind of, well, post that has an electrical outlet wired to it, and it's about eight feet or so from the back door. As I struggled to get a decent picture through the glass, I watched it drop down to the ground and gobble up some unlucky prey. Then it hopped back up the post.
I now realize I had seen this bird fly through the back yard before after it took flight (thought it was an owl then, too). I'm thinking it's some kind of falcon, similar to a prairie falcon, but it doesn't quite match up with google photos.
Want to play guess that bird? We're in inland North Carolina.
What kinds of animals have you seen near your home?
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Comments (8)
I saw a gopher this morning!
That looks like a red-shouldered hawk. Or a red-tailed hawk. We get them a lot where I live. I could be wrong though.
I live near the mountains in PA, so we get a lot of animals... I've seen all the normal animals (bunnies, raccoons, deer, groundhogs, etc) but I've also seen coyotes, mink, muskrats, foxes, bobcats, and one time there was a porcupine in a tree in my backyard!!! Took me forever to figure out what he was! Woke up and saw this big silvery thing sitting in my tree... it was pretty cool though.
I love seeing hawks!
There's a toad living in our backyard and I'm sure a few birds' nests in the trees. We see geckos in our garage and sunning themselves on our walk. We almost hit a wild turkey in the road the other day.
Our neighborhood is near a wooded area and it was out wandering the back road. Haha!
my SO thinks its a peregrine falcon
@psycho_ash@xanga - That's the second vote for a red tailed hawk, and I admit looks similar to the ones that turned up on google images.
@OoOoOoMeLiSsAoOoOoO@xanga - I looked them up yesterday too, but those looked less similar to what I saw than the hawks, even taking into consideration male/female/maturity variations.
No idea what that is. We don't have any animals except squirrels in the area. We have lots of pests though...ants, spiders.....my parents used to have raccoon. I did not know they were capable of making such horrible noises. I despise them now. We in the San Francisco area.
I argree, it looks like a red tailed hawk to me too.
i'm training to be a falconer and that is definitely a red tailed hawk. beautiful picture.