Sierra Nevada foothills. About a half-mile up.

I'll bet that the central valley gets a lot more migratory birds.

I'll rarely see some other than the more permanent residents. I'll post, or have posted, some of the passers-by.

I am into wild flowers and landscapes here, but have always had a coolpix to catch birds as they make an appearance.

Thanks for the reply and stay dry. We had ONE rainy episode this summer, which is one more than usual.

His breast was especially light in color. His offspring are all around the city and surrounding area and with light colored breasts.

If you are not familiar with Pale Male, There is a documentary about him, probably available on Netflix. He flew in Central Park in 1992. He is now 32 years old and still in the park.

My son and I were registered with a BSA Troop. A former Scoutmaster was a falconer who would rescue injured birds, nurse them to health and hunt with them for a while and eventually release them to the wild when they were ready.

He would bring his current rescue project each time and give an incredible presentation with the bird soaring just above our heads top retrieve bone-o-something that would be pick completely clean in seconds.

I may have different opinions if I were a rodent or small dog, but as a human I have to confess that those are magnificent birds.

Mostly ravens and vultures flying around here. Even so, being on a ridge, it's fun to watch them surf the thermals from the ravines below.

The hawk is a magnificent creature, and being out in the woods, I *really* appreciate the rodent hunting. I heard some owls early this morning, and that's a sweet sound. Only saw owls once. They are very secretive.

As far as I can tell, the birds don't go for small animals. Lots of bunnies here, and they aren't shy at all.

Quail will scatter if I make a noise or move 100 feet away.

Thanks for the reply and the nice story.

I remember having parent/teacher conferences on a half day schedule with the parents of my 1st graders. While a parent and I were speaking I looked at her face, which was facing the open classroom door which was under big Pine Trees. I turned around to see why her mouth was hanging open...a Red Tailed was pulling the feathers out of a dove that was its victim. It looked like snow was falling, big lightweight snowflakes. We both said at the same time, "thank goodness the kids aren't here to see this".

At a park close to my home I would take my dog to roam about and many times, with both of my Chihuahuas, I would look up and see a bird...silent and circling above for a long, long time. My friend told me it was a hawk and to grab my dog. I laughed it off...he obviously was exaggerating. I was wrong. That bird circled over my dog for at least 15 minutes without flapping it's wings once. It just glided all over the hills and valleys for a long time. It was impressive but scary. After that I made sure to look out for them when we we to the park.
They even attack other, smaller birds in the heart of the city. My neighbor knocked on my door once to warn me to keep my dog inside since a Red Tailed Hawk was pulling the body of a dove apart right over my apt. in front of our eyes.

And we have mountain lions.

Peace!

As I said, I have seen them sail through the air like gliders. I have studied them from the ground and they never flap their wings and they sail over miles this way. If I weren't looking out for my dogs' sake's I probably never would have seen their aerodynamic flying. Awe inspiring.

We have some smaller hawks, too, but I'm no good at identifying them so I couldn't tell you exactly what they are. The red-tails are unmistakable because of their size and those distinctive red tails.

It's very common to be driving down a busy suburban highway and see a red-tail perched on top of a lamp post, majestically surveying its domain. Of course, we see them soaring in the sky, too, but you can't get nearly as good a look at them that way.

It always gives me a little thrill to spot one of those handsome birds favoring us mere humans with the honor of its presence. 😊

The birds are so busy these days.

Crows in pecan trees next door, vultures in the street, hummingbirds right out the back door, hawks soaring around, wrens will not stop nesting on my back porch…

They must be getting ready for winter.

bullying a hawk.
It was at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.

The ravens did NOT want that hawk in their territory.

Some seasonal migration, we see them less in the winter.

had a mating pair that had built their nest on his farm for several years and they almost totally took care of his rat problem around his main barn. Outside cats and black snakes too, but every time we would see those red tails, they were either hunting or had a rat in their claws.