Oh it's just another one of Bill's birds

William that is, William J. Swainson.
Swainson, a British naturalist and illustrator best known for the quality of his art and being the first of his contemporaries to use lithography. According to Cornell University our friend here, the Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) was originally identified in 1872 by Mr. Swainson as a Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) until five years later when French biologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte classified it as it's own species and named it after Swainson.
I've only seen a Swainson's Hawk one other time and it was so far away from that it was only through close examination of the photos I had taken of it that I was able to deduce an identification. So this was Marty Stouffer, Wild America moment!

Something more to peregrine about

During this morning's airfield inspection, while on the runway, I glanced across at something which I thought was maybe a raven across the infield along the edge of the taxiway. Later on as I cruised up the previously mentioned taxiway who do I see but yet another Peregrine Falcon.

Raven about peregrines

 This raven caught me off guard, I was not expecting him to get as close to my truck as he did but he just keep walking closer and closer, until he was probably a good ten to fifteen feet away. It was only after I had stopped taking photos, got the abatement pistol out, and fired a couple of blank starter caps that he and the adult with him (in the distance) took off. Later on, while reviewing the photos after work, I realized he must have been a young adolescent bird due to "patchwork" feathers and his atypically unwary behavior -- none the less it was a rather cool encounter!

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

The next unexpectedly awesome encounter was not just one Peregrine Falcon, but two! I had stopped to check on the progress of an L.A. County Public Works crew that was cleaning out basin of a flood control channel that runs adjacent to airport property and when not cleaned out often enough has provided attractive habitat -- that's a story for another post. Anyways I had stopped to see the progress and as I was glancing over to them something darts past my peripheral field of view -- a Peregrine Falcon! So I quick reached down, grabbed the camera, and snapped off a quick few shots as it passed. Then I heard something -- something like a repeated cry of a raptor. So scanned the area and saw bird sitting on a light pole near the UPS ramp, but even with binos I couldn't be certain of what it was so drove over to investigate. So as in many case I start snapping photos as I approach, figuring the bird will scoot before I can get decently close, but this time I was able to get close -- in fact I got called away on business before I could fully push the limit. All that aside it was super awesome to be able witness and get photos of  not just one, but two truly amazing birds! If you look close enough you'll see it's got bands on both legs; I am still examining the photos to try and figure out who's banded it.

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Kestrels gone wild

female Falco sparverius

In the last month or so we've seen a increase in the number of American Kestrels on the airfield as fledglings take to the skies. They're every where!










                          In the sky,  

another female

          


             


        









             on signs,

two males

          they're on guard rail posts,

they're even on above-ground runway guard lights!










Kestrels are one of the more trickier birds to photograph, as they are real skittish. It's hard to get close-ups, at least with my lens, because most of time if I do get close enough by the time I get the camera up they're gone.

The finch's dodder

This morning, once again, I was at construction sitting there waiting to escort another construction vehicle when I heard the song of a House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) only very close. I looked around and didn't see him. He sang. I looked. Nothing; until I looked over top of my truck's passenger mirror then I saw right there less than five feet from the truck singing away! It's nice to have company.



Another odd thing you'll see growing on the ground in various spots on the airfield is what looks like someone let loose with a can of orange silly string. It's actually a parasitic plant of the species Cuscuta, also known as Dodder or Witch's Hair. Here's some more information from UC Davis's integrated pest management program: Dodder Management Guidelines

No Hola...

There's typically no work in the construction site on Sundays, but today I had to escort a water truck for a couple of hours. So naturally what am I going to do while out there? That's right, I'm going to check-up on my little Horned Lark family! I looked around and didn't see the parents. I figured that I had probably caught them while they were both out -- not the first time. However, as I got closer to the nest I saw nothing. All four nestlings were gone and they hadn't all grown up that quickly! Somebody had got to them. The list of potential suspects is fairly long; a luck coyote that happens on to the nest, ravens which are frequently around (I saw two in the vicinity of the nest on Wednesday), there's our red-tails, gopher snakes, and heck I wouldn't put it past a kestrel either. The fact is the nest is empty.

juvenile Horned Lark

I am reminded that this is the nature of things, even here on this airport, animals will fall prey to predators. But don't you fret because I saw several juvenile Horned-Larks flying about with their parents.





Another fascinating thing to witness was a male lark jumping to reach grass seeds above him!

Hmmmm

Got it!

Hola little nestlings

From one egg to three, to four, and now there are four little nestlings in our Horned Lark nest! If you look closely you will notice that one is even trying to open it's eyes!

Now the mother and father are busy flying back and forth with bugs to feed their young, they also take turns sitting on the nest -- although it's the mother who spends most of the time. They also seem to disturbed by the presence of my truck parking less than twelve feet from the nest, nor my occasional visits.

female on the left, male on the right

Dad checking up on the kids