Our Bird Of Prey

[Shelster]

Just thought as the sun is shining beautifully in Cornwall - not a cloud in the sky might I add

Our county may not get snow - well not as far down as us any rate but we get some lovely sunshine

So here is RT enjoying the weather

 

[az9]

i have that exact same sine in my fish tank

 

[Shelster]

Oh I don't have it in there since my rescape, it's currently sat in the kitchen windowsill

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Cool bird Shelster!

 

[Chad]

Wow! When I put birds of prey in the description for this forum I mostly meant it to be humorous thinking how rare a thing it would be for someone to actually have one but here you are!

 

[Shelster]

Ha ha, yup, here I am.

To be honest we do have quite a menagerie

It's not his best photo, but at least folk get an idea of what he looks like.

I'm sure with the amount of people I this forum there are other raptors?

Cool bird Shelster!

Thank you

 

[Chad]

Maybe, at least they a place to talk about them now if there are more! Beautiful animals, I just love them.
 
I live on the outskirts of town, quite near the desert areas so we often see hawks on the light posts and fences. We also see fox, coyote, quail, vultures, skunk, and the occasional raccoon which all live in the desert. We've been lucky to avoid the scorpions and rattlesnakes though. About 10 minutes drive from my house is a bald eagle nest which is fun to go and watch. There's a desert lake (man made) where they can be seen fishing from the water. The point being...I often see such things in the wild but to own one seems so out of the ordinary.

 

[Shelster]

Sounds amazing!

My brother lives in Arizona (kingman and Phoenix) depending on where his work takes him. - I have yet to go out there, but would love to.

We get Golden eagles - but only in Scotland.

The red tail we have is very similar to our 'common buzzard' except our buzzards tails remain the same colour as a juvenile redtail.

You'll have to get some pics if you can?

 

[Chad]

That's easy!

Sometimes there are two or three of them on the same light. They hunt the small rabbits, field mice, quail, and the occasional small dog or cat.

 

[Shelster]

That's great!

They don't care much about people then?

We occasionally have a common buzzard who sits on the telegraph pole near our cottage during his moult.
We put rabbit on the wall for him.

Poor RT mantles his food (opens his wings to hide his food from others) when they are near.

Incredible birds that they are.

 

[Chad]

No, they don't care much about the people and really do go after the occasional toy-sized dog so people do have to be careful and of course the coyotes go after even larger dogs. My beagle went nuts one night and there was a fox on the fence looking down at him.
 
We have the turkey vulture here which is quite large.

 

[Shelster]

Yay a fellow beagle lover

He has to wear his tracker collar though

You get to see some great wildlife!

 

[Chad]

What a beauty! Yes, I am a beagle lover but it's a hard dog to keep here because of that wildlife you mention. They are always after quail or rabbit when you least expect it.

 

[the_lock_man]

Beautiful BoP Shel!