Tag Archives: Harris’s Hawk

Squirrel!

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I watched this little Harris’s Antelope Squirrel, who looks like a chipmunk, romping around the yard. First he was on top of the waterfall in the pool. But by the time I grabbed my camera he moved to the outdoor fireplace.

We also have Harris’s Hawks, so I decided to find out more about this Harris guy. This is what AI told me:

Both animals are named in honor of Edward Harris (1799–1863), an American naturalist, philanthropist, and horse breeder from New Jersey.

He was a close friend and financial supporter of the famous ornithologist and artist John James Audubon. Harris accompanied Audubon on two major wildlife-gathering expeditions: one along the Gulf of Mexico in 1837 and another up the Missouri River in 1843.

To thank him for his friendship and financial help, Audubon named several newly cataloged species after him, including:

  • Harris’s Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)
  • Harris’s Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus harrisii)
  • Harris’s Sparrow (Zonotrichia querula

FYI, this is a photo of a Harris’s Sparrow from the website All About Birds. They aren’t found in Arizona, so I’ll be out of luck taking a picture of one here. They are found in the middle of the country from Texas all the way to Northern Canada.

I have been able to get many photos of Harris’s Hawks.

Back to my Harris’s Antelope Squirrel:

Here is the Harris’s Antelope Squirrel posing in front of a little fireplace ceramic statue of a chiminea on the mantel of the real fireplace. I learned the word antelope is in its name because it often carries its tail curled up over its back revealing a white rump like an antelope. Who knew?

He spent the afternoon getting settled into his new home.

Happy Friday!

What plans do you have for the weekend?

This week went by so quickly for me. How about for you?

Birds and More Birds

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This is a juvenile Harris’s Hawk who stopped by last week. The spotted chest and leggings are why I know it’s a juvie. Adults are solid brown in those places.

On the smaller side of birds are these two House Sparrows.

A Mourning Dove enjoyed the bird bath too and got fluffed up.

A quail couple feasted on the birdseed block.

A Roadrunner took over a bench in the backyard.

Another look at the Harris’s Hawk.

Which birds are your favorites out of this batch of photos?

Friday’s Photos

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A Harris’s Hawk landed in a tree in our backyard. We haven’t had one stop by for months, although I see them soaring overhead. I could hear his call and I spent a bit of time trying to spot him behind branches. The link is to a Youtube video of Harris’s hawks in flight with their sounds. I wouldn’t want to mess with those claws or beak!

This is a compilation of my favorite photos that I took this week.

Papa quail shares the birdseed block with a few of his babies.

A White-winged Dove perches on a flamingo buddy.

Bully bird Curve-billed Thrasher lands on the cactus statue before scaring everyone away from the birdseed block.

An adult House Finch feeds it’s juvenile.

Red watches over the rain meter during a Monsoon week.

Do you have a favorite photo? If so, which one?

What fun plans do you have for the weekend?

Photo Roundup Starring Red

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Yesterday I got some new photos of Red. He seems to have made friends with my Costco pink flamingo. But every time I’ve tried to get his photo, he flies away. Yesterday I was successful.

Red’s been super friendly. He’s no longer ignoring me like he did when I was on the knee scooter, walker or wearing the boot. I must have looked pretty scary to such a tiny guy. Now when I go outside, I hear him singing. I took the trash out and he landed a few feet away from me on the wall. I just went to our backyard to go in the pool, and he landed in the tree above our chairs, singing his heart out.

Earlier yesterday, I saw him land on a rock on the backyard. I think he was waiting for me to feed him. I opened the casita door and he flew high into the tree.

I called out to him, “Hey Red!” in a chirpy voice. I put out some “Cardinal Seed Mix” and he didn’t fly away. I was able to get some more photos while he munched. Mrs. came and joined him, but she stayed in the shade and her photos were too dark to fix with Photoshop.

One of my lunch bunch friends who I worked with 30 years ago in Palm Springs asked why Red always faces left. I hadn’t noticed, but she’s a graphic designer and probably more in tune to things like that than I am.

I’m learning Photoshop for my photography workshop that starts in the fall. So I used PS to flip Red to the right!

A few more visitors this week:

A Desert Spiny Lizard doing pushups on the rock.

A Harris’s Hawk landed on the fence yesterday. I pounded on the window to get him to take off. I really wanted a photo of him in flight. But no luck!

Papa Quail looking out for mom and babies.

Have a wonderful weekend!

What are you planning on doing this weekend?

A Few Things Happening

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I managed to get an in focus photo of a Harris’s Hawk who made a landing in our tree and immediately took off into the desert.

Today, my husband comes home. I had three days to myself while he traveled for a class. I was apprehensive about his trip and realized it was due to our last long weekend “trip” that turned into a disaster with me falling and breaking my ankle on our first hike! I was also a little worried about how I’d get along, but my husband stocked the fridge and freezer like I’d be eating for a month, not three days.

I had two friends take me out for lunch. We used to work together 30 years ago! They are both graphic designers and I was the PR person who hired them for brochures, ads and billboards. We get together about once a month after not seeing each other for 15 years. That’s when they both left Palm Springs for Arizona. We live a few miles apart now and it’s been wonderful to rekindle our friendships.

My surgeon told me I should start getting out of the house and I’d feel much better. So lunch was a good idea — as well as my mornings outside getting sun and enjoying nature.

Then I quit the board where I was in charge of communications. It’s a woman’s group where we fundraised to support victims of sex trafficking. A post of Wynne Leon’s of Surprised by Joy this week about leadership made me realize exactly why I made this decision. You can read her post HERE called How to Share Direction. A new year began for our group and we have a new leader.

Our group is very small, around 30, and in March we held a fundraiser, a casino night. Literally five of us pulled it off with a silent auction, prizes, menu planning, and me doing communications. I spent the better part of three months working on the program, fliers, invitations, press releases, public service announcements and contacting newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.

We voted at a recent board meeting to focus on growing membership and that a fundraiser like casino night is too much work for us at this point. It was a unanimous vote. Our new leader at a meeting I missed because of my ankle surgery made the unilateral decision that casino night was a piece of cake and we’d have one next March. She told another member to “book it.” That was it for me. No vote was taken. The board also decided to no longer fundraise for sex-trafficked victims because some members find it to be distasteful. Out again for a second time!

Meanwhile my laptop that is only three years old suddenly died. I have a MacBook Air and it’s my second one dying in six years. I remember when my Mac computers lived for 10 years or more. I was sitting on the sofa with my leg iced and elevated with the laptop on my sundress, when the laptop went black. I went to Apple’s website to figure out what to do. It turns out that it said not to use a MacBook Air on fabric, bed or on clothing. Who knew! It overheated and went kaput. According to my daughter, I needed to get a sturdier, more solid laptop, so I did and I’m back in business.

So that’s my week in a post plus a surprise photo I managed to get of Red and Mrs. together!

What are your plans for the weekend?

I’ll be doing my PT and trying to get though the food my husband left me.

Little birds and a big bird

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Baby quail out my window.

Two babies!

I’m watching birds early in the morning while sitting outside writing my morning pages. Then I pick up my camera while sitting at a table inside. I’ve seen three separate families of quail. They are small families with the largest having four babies, then another with two and the final family has mom, dad and one baby.

House finch on a young saguaro.

A Harris Hawk stopped by and the little birds flew away.

Mrs. arrived for a snack. A House Finch tried to intimidate her, but she stood her ground.

I hope you enjoyed my photos that I took over the weekend. Happy Father’s Day to everyone and have a great week!

What do you have planned for this week?

The Hawks are Back!

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This Harris’s Hawk made an appearance yesterday, which is my second or third sighting since I began my beginning photography class.

Harris’s Hawks

You might notice the difference in photos? The first one, I took yesterday. The hawk was on the next door neighbor’s roof after I shooed him out of our yard. The photo with two hawks was taken in December before my class began.

I used to love it when the hawks came to visit. But now I’m a mother hen looking out for Red, the Mrs. and their nest. When the hawk decided a good place to hang out was next to the Reds’ nest, I got in his face with my camera. He didn’t like that and landed on the roof next door.

This Mr. Harris Hawk right next door to Red and Mrs.’ nest. It looks like he could be staring into their nest — which could bring a new meaning to “empty nest.”

I got these photos of Red and the Mrs. after the Harris’s Hawk flew away.

Before my photography class and getting to know my beautiful cardinals, I believed nature should take its course. Now I have one eye nervously glancing out the window whenever I see a large bird fly by. I’m right out there with my telephoto lens to snap pictures, which also scares away the predator birds.

My next adventure is to learn some of Adobe Photoshop. I’m beginning today, and am thankful for a professional photographer friend of more than 30 years who has offered to help!

What are your thoughts on my wanting to interfere in nature and being protective of Red and his wife?