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.
Start with the wings first, you know, as an appetizer.
Above Christmas Tree Road on a windy day:
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Area photographer Glenn Nevill‘s shots of our famous Great Horned Owl Family at Stow Lake are amazing.
And he sells blow-ups of his nature photos and everything so be sure to check out his site.
Here’s a nice one:
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Bon courage, owls.
In compliance with the request of a friend of mine who wrote me from the East, I ascended Stow Lake’s Strawberry Hill* the other day to photograph with my iPhone** the Famous Great Horned Owl Family of Stow Lake 2011.
Thusly.
That’s the baby mama on the left, the oldest owlet on the right and the other three chicks inbetwixt:
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Oh, what’s that, you want to see some good photos instead? Well how about this one from Glenn Nevill’s 500mm 4.0? Or this set from Mark Brunig? And here’s the TowheeBlog.
Now, I thought that the existences of dees boids was spr skrt but once something hits the ‘Xam, you can’t call it that anymore. So, go up to the waterfall level and then head to the northwest. The dead branch on the crazy tree points to the nest:
O.K., Bon Courage, owls!
*Did Strawberry Hill get its name before it became an island? I think so. It must have, actually.
**Just kidding – I’d never buy an iPhone. But thanks for waiting in line and paying $600 and an extra $30 a month to T and putting up with T’s spotty coverage over the years. My 4G Samsung’s all the better for it, early adopter.
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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This has got to be the tiniest raptor I’ve ever seen in San Francisco.
Or maybe the damselfly in its talons was just really, really big?
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Maybe it’s both.
On the wing avec another victim a little later with the fog coming in:
Dragonflies – it’s what’s for dinner.
