Ridgefield Birds.

Alright, so here's part two of my Ridgefield trip on Friday afternoon...   Things started off pretty slow so when I came across a gorgeous male Purple Finch, I sat and watched him for like fifteen minutes.  



I came across a Red-tailed Hawk in a tree eating something I couldn't quite identify...at first.


Then the prey's leg got loose and dangled in plain view...


Definitely a coot foot.  The hawk finished up what it wanted to eat and took a poop:

(poop is that diagonal line in the bottom right that makes the branches look like a triangle)

I found something interesting in the photos I took of the dangling coot bones after the hawk was finished...


Fish hook.  Always such a bummer to see, but glad the hawk managed to eat around it.  The sun was starting to set but I decided to go around the refuge one more time...


A gorgeous pair of Cinnamon Teals made the second loop immediately worthwhile...


This was when I found the coyotes walking along the dike and heading towards the nutria for the grand battle scene in my last post.  Good times!

Comments

  1. Great photos Jen! I'm still fascinated by coyotes when I see them.

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  2. That's awesome! I've wondered why Coots aren't eaten as often as other waterfowl. They're so nice an plump...

    And with those coyotes too, it was a very carnivorous day.

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  3. Wow! What a fabulous series on the coyotes going after the nutria! Wonderful shots, Jen! How cool is that!

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  4. Jen, amazing shots of the hawk and its dinner. I would recognize a coot's foot anywhere. I can not make out the fish hook though, glad the hawk ate around it. Cool photos.

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  5. Guess that hook weakened that coot and thats why he was eaten! Very nice shots of the Finch and all the other birds too...Delish Cinnamon Teals!!

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  6. Hey, I think I was there that day. My friends and I were in the car and we watched the red tail hawk fly over a road and hit/kill the coot! It is pretty amazing, and quite nice to see that he finally pulled at least part of it up off of the ground. he was in the water struggling with it for about 10 minutes.

    Hope I see you out and about some time, I like your blog a lot!

    Eric

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