Look at what Bluoz spotted atop our Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:
“This is on top of the flag pole at the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals at 95 7th street, corner of Mission and 7th, so if your near there, look up, because that area and the federal building across the street is pretty much home to this pair of hawks and they’re often circling above. And this golden eagle on the flag pole is one of their favorite perches.”
Impressive!
Poor little critter.
This hawk wasn’t looking so chipper, so I told somebody at Strybing Arboretum about it and he called the “raptor rescue” people.
And then they put this animal in a box to get it to “raptor rehab,” someplace in San Mateo County.
I’m srsly, that’s what they called it.
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Poor little critter.
This shot of a crow hassling a red tailed hawk was taken before the boycott of San Francisco Botanical Garden, before the arrival of the paywall manned by minimum-wage workers.
Circling too close to the crow’s nest, Children’s Garden, near MLK Drive:
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They said they’d kill the fee if it didn’t work out. It didn’t work out but I don’t think that they’ll ever kill the fee. Oh well.
On some days, the fees generated by the paywall don’t even cover the cost of paying the non-union workers minimum wage to collect the fees.
Of course our Rec and Park considers the paywall a “great success.” Oh well.
An ideal nesting site high above the Polk Street Steps, don’t you think?
It’s protected from the rain and wind and of course there are plenty of rats scurrying about City Hall these days, non?
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This new nest matches the other one the Polk Side has.
Or mice, or gophers – that’s what this hawk wants to do.
But the crows, they aren’t having that. See?
The hawk’s all like WTF, hater?
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See?
As seen near Twin Peaks:
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Well, it turns out that City Hall, home of the Biggest Classical Dome in the Western Hemisphere,*is also home to raptor nests. Check out the Polk side of the northeast corner. See all that straw and whatnot? That’s your raptor nest.
Truth be told, all of our hawks and falcons in the area are pretty much the same boid, so they look pretty much the same. But I’d venture to say that this critter is a red tailed hawk, or a red-shouldered, or one of them peregrine falcons, something in that area.
Anywho, this raptor seemed awful interested in this nest this AM.
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Same critter, but on the north side.
Here’s another angle of the nest on our crumbly City Hall. (Can you see the nightmare-fuel cow’s skull complete with assorted cow skull icons?)
If you like urban birds of prey, look forward to this new joint opening December 10, 2010 in the bay area:
“THE LEGEND OF PALE MALE documents the mysterious power possessed by a single red-tailed hawk to open the eyes and hearts of die-hard city dwellers to the wonders of nature. It begins in 1993, when a young man from Belgium looking to change his life has an unexpected encounter in Central Park with a wild redtail hawk, a fierce predator that has not lived in the City for almost a hundred years. He buys a video camera and sets out to track the hawk, and after almost twenty years, realizes he has been led down many trails of life, death, birth, hope, and redemption. THE LEGEND OF PALE MALE is a Balcony Releasing film, runs for 85 minutes, is in English, and is not yet MPAA rated.
Affectionately known to New Yorkers as Pale Male, the hawk becomes an obsession and a metaphor for triumph against the odds. His posh 5th Avenue nest starts out as a novel curiosity to a handful of avid birdwatchers but becomes an international tourist destination until, on a December afternoon without warning, the building management dismantles PaleMale’s beloved nest. In a wingbeat, media from around the world assemble on 5th Avenue to cover the unprecedented protest. Gathering behind Pale Male is an army of birdwatchers, movie stars, poets, children, dogs, and late night comedy show hosts. What unfolds next, as they say, could only happen in New York.”*Yes, bigger than the U.S. Capitol rotunda. I mean, natch, that was the whole point. We bad.
This hawk was able to capture and eat two pocket gophers in the space of about five minutes in Golden Gate Park the other day.
We’d probably be overrun with gophers by now if it weren’t for our hungry hawks.
Yet another serving of roditore carpaccio:
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