Photography

In San Diego County we have 492 local, regular migrants, and established exotic species of birds. That's more than any other region in North America.

Put 1.4 million people in a small area with millions of birds, and you have the possibility that real bird nerds will emerge.

Go to the Natural History Museum page to see how they have plotted thousands of birds on Google Earth. 

Or ignore all that and take a look at our local sparrow hawk baby having lunch in the pine tree outside my kitchen window. 

These were taken with my Sony HX400V while I peeked around the corner of the laundry room door. He had caught a medium-sized songbird, and was trying to eat it on a large branch. I've observed this behavior a few times, and I've noticed that young birds have trouble coordinating everything:

• holding himself on the branch
• pinning down the prey
• finding the tasty bits and pulling them off
• guarding his lunch from his siblings

thus they tend to revolve around on the branch while they try to figure it all out. Once in awhile they fall off, or drop the prey.

Lunch

Cazalea

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