It’s raptor season again on the bay…

I’ve been keeping watch from Pier 14 in the city at lunch time. Looking out at the Bay Bridge and using my long lens to watch for falcons resting out there over a mile away. Not very exciting visually, but still it is a challenge to keep an eye on them. Lately I’ve been able to spot one and sometimes two birds resting below the road bed on a walkway on the central anchor that the Caltrans folks call W4. I usually have to go back to my computer and upload the images before I can spot both of them, looking at the back of a digital camera in bright sunlight is not the best for fine detail work.

Here is an example of what it looks like to find one out there.

Peregrine Falcon resting on the Bay Bridge, San Francisco Bay

You can see the bird resting on the top hand rail in the center of the image.

The same day that I took this shot, Friday, I was walking along the Embarcadero Road that fronts the bay and heard crows calling overhead. Looking up, I spotted two crows harassing a Red-tailed Hawk. It was difficult to catch a view of them, because they were flying in and out of the sun.

I did have the presence of mind to relocate and was able to get a good sequence of the whole avian drama as it unfolded. You can see the whole sequence by clicking here.

Red-tailed Hawk being harassed by crow

Things like this are going on all the time. In the country you can usually hear and see it better, but sometimes you get lucky and witness it happening over the noise and commotion of the city traffic. And if you happen to be carrying a camera with a long lens then you can record it too.

Thanks for looking, and good birding to all.

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