Hawkwind

I received a hawk trifecta yesterday. Driving home from work, I noticed our large mother hawk on top of a pine tree on the steep grade going down to Rainbow Creek. I stopped my car in the middle of the road and instantly sprang into action, trying to snap what I could before she had enough of me and flew away.

Earlier in the day I had a call from a neighbor that had seen a grey tree squirrel, bopping on the high tree boughs in the same general vicinity. My friend has lived here for about 45 years and this was a first for him, our native brown ground squirrels being basically terrestrial in nature.

The greys live way up on Palomar Mountain. Evidently this little guy never got the call or got kicked out of the clan.

I add this to my list of animal oneoffs in the region. In my thirty plus around here, I have seen one red fox, one bighorn sheep ram, two golden eagles, and have now heard about an itinerant grey squirrel. Haven't seen a deer in ages either. Many mountain lion, possum, beaver, bobcats, roadrunners and coyotes in the neighborhood. Can't wait until the black bears migrating south discover our luscious avocados. Be some fat ass bears.

At one time, we were prime grizzly country, some of the largest on record having been shot in North County but the ursine species now long decimated. I have read early accounts in Temecula history of bull and bear fights on Sunday afternoons in the era of the dons. An unfortunate bear would usually manage to kill about four bulls in the corrida before he or she succumbed to their injuries. Brutal times. It would take nine men to go up to Palomar Mountain and get a bear, two roping each leg and a coxswain for moral support.

I slowly drove by the hawk nest and for the first time this week the mother was gone. The two red tail chicks were jutting their necks up in the air like little ostriches. Very soft and downy.

I got a bunch of shots, perched on the high canyon road, and stopped to chat with a few neighbors idling by. Driving a bit further I caught the father on the wire, keeping a sharp eye on his children. I have been doing some reading on the subject of hawks, especially red tails and will hopefully have time to add to this post if I get some time in the next two crazy weeks. For those that, like me, can't get enough of these avian predators, a comprehensive look at Buteo jamaicensis on Wikipedia.