jennysweatt's Favorites

The second day in a row of a predator/prey sequence. Yesterday it was a Peregrine Falcon and a blackbird (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/242671182). Today it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Sparrow. Not quite as good of a photo set today, though :)

Pretty far looks, but there's been a Tricolored Blackbird hanging out in this area for the past few days (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/229191433). And, it looks like white on that shoulder patch.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks :)

We were watching this juvenile Peregrine from a boat. It was just perched in a tree but, at some point, it saw/heard a Belted Kingfisher at the water's edge (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213496581 ). So, it went in pursuit. Fortunately, the Kingfisher was adept enough to evade the attack (and took refuge in a rock cave). This Peregrine then swooped way up on the cliffside and perched in a snag. Soon thereafter, one of its parents brought it a rodent to eat (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213496584 ). The last photo was after the two Peregrines made the food exchange.

Posted on behalf of Geoff Quine. Surely the same animal seen on the 5th (see Associated Observation). We spent many hours scouring the area for scat of fur for genetic testing, but no luck. Tons of coyote tracks in the area, and one came by the camera a few times this very night.

This was a super cool find after work on my short xc ski trip!

I first noticed it when it either jumped down or fell from a tree. At first I thought it was a cat it was quite chonky. haha. I don't believe it saw me from the distance, though, as it appeared to be looking away (third pic). And when I retraced my tracks I stopped at where it had been approaching my tracks. At that point, I was about 20 feet away and it popped up and stared at me for 5-7 seconds. Super cute! Unfortunately I couldn't get my camera out in time again as I was struggling to get up a short and steep incline (and needed my ski poles).

In the field, I actually thought this was a juvenile because the skies were so dark and overcast that I couldn't see either the yellow belly/breast or red on the throat.

Christmas Bird Count 2023 (species week).

For a moment, this Sharpie perched in the same snag as a Red-tailed Hawk (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/186220411). See last photo in this series for size comparison and behavior. Pretty interesting to see the RTH not even flinch, but the size difference is most definitely great between the two!

The first photo of this series is where it actually ended up after flying out of the snag with the RTH.

Wow! This was a really cool surprise to see this afternoon in my driveway. The gaps in the pavers hold all kinds of seeds, apparently. So I've been seeing more bird activity here after I finish shoveling.

There was a Dark-eyed Junco (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141416287) that this beauty was sharing the drive with for a couple of hours today.

Day Three for this bird, astoundingly the first Tahoe record since 1975 and long overdue! I've been looking for one of these for two decades. Tried for it late yesterday and dipped since the eagles had flushed all the gulls shortly prior to my arrival. Pretty darn happy to finally catch up with this species at Tahoe!!