A precursor of things to come?
1/1250, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
Back in December of 2013, on a wet and snowy morning at Farmington Bay WMA, I found this female American Kestrel struggling to enjoy her breakfast of what I believe was American Pipit. Despite the snow it wasn’t very cold so the snow and everything else was wet, including the feathers of both birds. As a result, every time she tried to feed, wet pipit feathers would stick to her mouth and bill. She was having a heck of a time, to the point that she actually dropped the pipit and had to go to the ground to retrieve it.
If you look carefully you’ll see that it was snowing lightly when I took the photo There’s actually a snowflake stuck to her lower eyelid.
It’s looking like this snowy scene is a precursor to what we’ll be getting around here for the next week or so. As I type this at 6 AM, big snowflakes are falling outside and we’re forecast to get up to 6″ of fluffy white stuff by the end of the day. We’ll get a break tomorrow but after that there are several more snowstorms lined up and preparing to dump on us for the rest of next week.
We need it, badly. And maybe, just maybe, all that snow will bring some more birds in. It often does.
Ron
https://youtu.be/G47k6qSKgPw is my only answer. 😀
😊
Wonderful image. I have more birds in the yard both yesterday, Saturday, and today. We had 4 inches Friday night that mostly melted by Saturday afternoon. We had another 4 overnight Saturday into Sunday morning. We have had a really cold canyon wind so far today.
Thanks, April. You’ve had more than we’ve had – both birds and snow.
Let it snow! And pls hire some kids to shovel it – give your back a break 😀
Kathleen, it shouldn’t be too bad as long as my snow blower fires up.
Fabulous image of the harshness of Nature, Ron. It was mighty cold this morning when I took foster pup out for his constitutional, but no rain until possibly next weekend. Glad you guys are getting some much-needed snow. Hope it will come in bits and bobs over time and not in a huge dump fest. Also hope your back won’t be the worse for wear after dealing with it. ❤️
Thanks, Marty. I have similar concerns about my back after dealing with what might be lots of snow.
Gotta be some high school or college kid nearby who could use a few bucks. 😉
Ditto to Kris’s comment. Gorgeous shot of the bird-eat-bird reality of survival. Makes me feel less guilty about not being a vegan…
Thanks, Burrdoo. No chance I’d make it as a vegan…
It IS a struggle – huge flock of Grey Crowned Rosy Finches is now here and trying to work through the snow on the feeders and on the ground. We got about 4″ of fluffy stuff last night – still snowing tho fine stuff – we’ll take it!
Supposed to go sub zero about Wed. with snow again – UGH on the temps and, maybe, wind!
Hope you get a break with the wind, Judy.
“Tough little falcons”, indeed– Michael and I both noticed the size
ratio of predator to prey in this stunning image–prey being almost half
as large as the beautiful little killer– and contrasting to the players, a
background of lacy, subtle beauty….what a capture !
Thanks, Kris. Glad you like it.
👍
Boy, that looks cold.
As I was looking at this photo I was recalling my encounters with American Kestrels. In my experience, most prey items were insects, and that it was uncommon for them to bring down birds that are typically almost half their own size. Then it hit me. In this kind of weather there are probably no insects to hunt.
Got to admire these tough little falcons.
Hope you get the snow you need there Ron. Other parts of the west can benefit from same.
That’s right, Michael – in winter around here insects are few and far between. Most of our winter raptors survive on other birds, small rodents and in some cases, fish and/or carrion.
Ron – too funny – finished my input to your post and mentioned no snow here – I was up at 5 and looked out and no snow. Right after posting to FP I headed out in the dark to feed the birds and get the papers and it is snowing like crazy out there.
Like I said, there’s hope.
Not like me to be an optimist but sometimes I can’t help myself… 🙂
I really, really hope you do get snow. And would love some here (despite it being impossible).
Birds don’t do it easy do they? That really doesn’t look like an ideal breakfast situation.
“Birds don’t do it easy do they?”
You’ve got that right, EC. Especially during winter.
Interesting photo Ron. Love our Kestrels and work with the restoration folks here. Nature gave her a good set of talons, but that small beak. For her catching is easier than eating. We had 81% chance last night, but got nothing. Hope it is coming.
Everett, we were supposed to get dumped on last night too but when I got up at 4:30 AM none had fallen. But it started snowing about an hour ago and so far we have just over an inch out there.
So there’s hope.