With plenty of birds flying about, there was bound to be some bird-on-bird interaction of various kinds.
In my previous post were photos of birds I’d recently seen at Wavecrest. Those were some of the best of the photos I’d taken that day. Today, I’ll show you photos of birds interacting that day. These are not my best photos–some are downright blurry–but you can see interaction between birds.
First off, two flirting Say’s Phoebes. This behavior went on for several minutes and and two different locations (the plant and the fence).
(Click on an image to see a larger view.)
Katherine has been lucky enough to have seen a White-tailed Kite transfer–midflight–fresh caught prey to its mate. I’ve never seen that. However, I came close to seeing it during this visit (though I didn’t realize it until I reviewed the photos).
In the first photo, you can see something dark held in the claw of the upper Kite.
In the next photo, in the lower right corner, you can see a falling rodent. So, it’s not that I missed the picture so much as the Kite missed the handoff. (These Kites are not going to the Olympics.)
This gallery shows the two Kites yelling at each before flying off together. The whole thing took only about a minute. Would that all conflict could end so quickly!
(Click on an image to see a larger view.)
I saw several female (and one male) Northern Harriers. We know from a previous post that a male Northern Harriers may have multiple mates. These two females did not seem to be in conflict though they were hunting in the same territory.
Speaking of territory, this Northern Kite had something to say to an American Kestrel who flew near.
Later, a Red-shouldered Hawk (probably unknowingly) disturbed several White-tailed Kites.
There was so much to see at Wavecrest. One of the people I talked to during my walk told me that Barn Owls can be seen in the mornings or evenings. Another said that in the past, she’d seen a Great Horned Owl in one of the ravines. I’m excited to go back.