Sorry, it's my only bird-themed userpic...

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I just now saw a large bird of prey (Hawk? Falcon?) on the railing of my balcony on Bay State Avenue up in Ball Square. (I hate that I never think to take pictures of anything until it's too late.) It was a foot tall at least, and very beautiful. If you're in the immediate area and you have a very tiny dog or kittens, I'd say bring 'em inside for now. It looked hungry.

Let's see if I can make a new tag...

Comments

[unferth.livejournal.com]

I've seen some kind of raptor circling over the Rite-Aid by the bike path at least as far back as April. And there's a photo from last March here:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1011548

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yes, this one looked very much like that. Gorgeous, aren't they? I'm not sure what kind of raptor it is. I'm sort of glad I wasn't actually out on the balcony when it visited, though.

Oh, I DO have another bird userpic!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

beowabbit and I saw a pair of them in Boston Common this week, attempting to hunt a squirrel. But that squirrel was having none of it -- it got right up in one of the raptor's faces and attacked like an angry cat. The raptors gave up on that squirrel and went looking for others. :-)

[redknot.livejournal.com]

That's a young Red-tailed Hawk :)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Cool! Looking at pictures of them on the internetz now. Those wings are just stunning! I wonder if this is the type of hawk that is sometimes domesticated for use in hunting?

[redknot.livejournal.com]

Yep, I've definitely heard of them being raised for falconry!

[redknot.livejournal.com]

Oh, and here's a basic guide to common urban raptors (as far as I know):

-Huge dark wings, slightly upturned in a v = turkey vulture

-Great big kite-like hawk, soaring with flat wings = PROBABLY a red-tail

-Little bird with pointy wings = kestrel

-Slightly bigger bird with pointy wings = peregrine or merlin

-Little bird with less-pointy wings = probably cooper's hawk or sharp-shinned hawk

Any other bird nerds want to chime in?

[unferth.livejournal.com]

BTW, the photo in my original comment wasn't mine; I just dug it up as evidence that there's a raptor presence around Davis.

I suspect the ones I saw over Rite-Aid were red-tailed hawks, but I am a long way from sure.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I want to see the VULTURE!!

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

they're *everywhere* in summer - look for large birds "coasting" in the sky (not flapping) in large lazy circles. i see a lot of them over highways. you're unlikely to see one on the ground unless you can find a reasonably ripe carcass to stalk.

[ron_newman]

I like the new tag you created for this, and will look for old posts to retag with it.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Skunks, raccoons, squirrels, raptors, we've got 'em all. :-) I frequently see skunks waddling through my back yard at night, and have more than once gone out to the balcony for a smoke very late at night and come face to face with a raccoon.

[ron_newman]

Ugh, skunks -- I got sprayed by one at Mass. Ave. and Russell Street a few years ago. Had to throw out a whole bunch of clothing.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

You got skunked? Wow! That's never happened to me, but I did closely approach one once, mistaking it for a cat (coming home drunk from a party. Me, not the skunk). It started to turn it's back end to me to spray. I got out of there quick.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

possums and the occasional coyote, too.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I heard bits about the coyote! Also, last summer I was sometimes seeing someone walking an astonishingly elderly dog that I swear could have been a coyote. That wouldn't be legal, but maybe he did have one as a pet.

[cerridwynn.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the turkey! We saw him just last week, calmly sitting in our neighbor's driveway (in Teele).

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Ah yes! I remember one that had a few little turklettes (for lack of a real term for baby turkeys).

[unferth.livejournal.com]

They're "poults". Apparently.

[avacon.livejournal.com]

Don't forget the iguana.

[siderea]

A bit further afield, has anybody mentioned the swans at Alewife yet?

[ron_newman]

No .. where more specifically at Alewife?

[siderea]

Wow, this is like North Cambridge's best kept secret. Jerry's Pond at Russell Field. A mated pair's been here since at least April 15, when I took pictures of them; somebody else I ran into said they'd been there at least a week or two at that point. ETA: When they're feeling social, which is apparently often, they hang out close to the parking lot, where there are often humans with treats.

No sign of cygnets, alas.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

There's a bunch at a spot along Memorial Drive. Webster or Western? Not sure.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Oooh, lucky you for the up-close view!

I've seen a lot of red-tailed hawks in the area, so that would be my guess. I saw 2 or 3 hanging out on/near the church over on Mass. Ave. (er St John's? the one with the bell tower) earlier this spring, and I see them in other parts of Somerville multiple times a year.

(Once or twice I've seen a Cooper's hawk in my backyard, goin' after the little birds, but they're significantly smaller.)

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I once had an eye-level view from the 3rd floor to the top of a phone pole out back where a beautiful hawk was finishing off the last of a young squirrel. I didn't see him rip it apart; rather, he was painstakingly swallowing it whole, or at least the whole back end. It took a long time. But he ate all the fur and everything and left not a trace.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen any lately, but Tufts used to have a decent supply of hawks. I was startled by one in the notch of a tree only about 8 feet off the ground right by a sidewalk in the middle of campus, calmly eating away at a rat (Tufts has a plentiful supply of them too). In the last year or two, Tufts had to relo a nest that was on one of its fire escapes. They would also hang out at the football field.

There was one perched on the parking garage at work out in Waltham a couple of weeks ago. It just sat there and when it swooped, we all ran around hoping it had pounced on something we could see ... but no such luck.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

The hawks should go to Soldier's Field Park, where there are tasty rabbits!

[ron_newman]

Remember this ?

[ron_newman]

I gave a variety of old posts your new tag, including a few about hawks.

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

I have seen a red tailed hawk on a side street off Mass Ave between Porter and Harvard, just hanging out on a streetlight pole.

I also recently saw one sitting on a streetlight in the small veterans memorial on broadway next to the Foodmaster.