Not as common or as widespread as American Kestrel Merlin did at least allow for some decent pictures to be taken of them. This one was at La Merced where it spent an afternoon catching dragonflies, the remains of one can be seen still in the talons above. A very smart falcon.
California - November 2009
Birds of Prey
Northern Harrier
Merlin
Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Only a handful of Ospreys were encountered during the trip, at the Salton Sea and a Morro Bay, the latter having probably no more than four different birds. with this bird being one of them.
Northern Harrier is a common and widespread bird of prey with sometimes multiple birds in some locations, especially common at La Merced where all of these pictures were taken.
The Northern Harrier above is a juvenile, aged as such based on the plain orange-buff undersides lacking extensive streaking. The bird below is an adult female and as can be seen there underside is whiter and heavily streaked.
Again a juvenile, below, Northern Harrier. Along with the plain under-parts the under-wing coverts are also plainer than the adult female above thus a less contrasting looking bird.
Common and widespread Red-tailed Hawks were bar far the most frequently encountered large raptor of the trip. The amount of plumage variation was astounding through out all of the ages encountered with some replicated here.
The first image, above, is of a pretty typical 'south-western' adult and a bird that is readily identified and aged. The second bird, immediately below, is also readily identified as an Red-tailed Hawk, plain pale orange toned tail whilst the under-parts and under-wing coverts also have a orange-buff tone making it look darker than the previous bird though still an adult. This bird is very similar to the Western light adult illustration in the Sibley guide. Both birds were at La Merced.
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawks show paler and barred tails, white ground coloured under-wined coverts which are heavily barred and strongly marked under-sides. In addition the dark trailing edge to the flight feathers is far less obvious whilst the pale eye seems to be typical of juvenile birds, adults seem to show dark eyes.
The perched juvenile below is slightly more warm toned than in life due to the setting sun turning everything reddish-orange. Here the pale yellow eye is clearly visible, the Moustachial stripe is the darkest feature on the face and the breast is contrastingly plain white, a typical 'pale' juvenile. Both these juveniles are from La Merced.
The pale adult Red-tailed Hawk below was photographed in Joshua Tree National Park perched on top of one of the said 'trees'.
The only eagle species of the trip was Golden Eagle, same as in March 2007. Two were seen within minutes of each other along the Pozo Road, San Louis Obispo. This bird, a juvenile with restricted white flashes at the inner primary bases, but typical juvenile tail pattern, was perched up for a short period but I managed to only get a few record shots from the other side of the road. I managed substantially better shots when it took flight.
Common and widespread Turkey Vulture were seen in most places visited and often in flocks. This bird was at Morro Bay where the species was particularly common around the Marina.
