Animal encounters

Holy fuck that sounds awesome, but also sad for the robin. We have a sharp-shinned hawk that visits our backyard, so far she's only gotten sparrows and finches but I've seen her go after the blue jays and I'm dreading the day I find a pile of blue and gray feathers. Still though I'd gladly let one go if a Peregrine falcon took it out in front of me.

>>2181648
It was sad and cool. I don't like robins myself, or even the giant flocks of sparrows at bird feeders since I recently moved to an idea that just doesn't have many different kinds of birds. I'm so used to seeing so many different kinds but it's 99% sparrows and starlings, with the occasional crow here. I'm in NH right now but I used to also see barn owls, great horned owls, turkey vultures, black vultures, ospreys(up close since they nested behind my house), golden eagles, bald eagles, coppers hawks and red tail hawks(they used to sit in the trees and watch our rabbits). Never saw a peregrine falcon and I heard an owl once in the 3 years ive lived here so this was pretty exciting.

And it was a literal explosion of feathers. As soon as the falcon hit it, the Robin just exploded. Didn't get pictures of the falcon but I did get pics of the ridiculous amount of feathers on my yard. I just can't find them. I don't get how it exploded like that.

A couple weeks ago at a park I was walking and something burst through the trees being chased by like five crows. I couldn't see what it was, but it was bigger than the crows from the blurred impression I got.

File: 9c9472718b28bcb5fcd1dca8a21f3339.jpg.cf.jpg (43KB, 400x544px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 400x544px

Coolest I've seen up close was a pair of Mississippi kites grab a lizard in a tree about 20 feet away.

Saw one sporting juvenile colors not long after, guessing they nested down by my creek.

We have a lot of birds of prey out here, they rarely get close though.

>>2181641
>be at the river
>see goose
>try to get close
>ready to run, think it's gonna bite my ass when it notices me
>realize i'm right in front of it, there's no way that it doesn't see me
>walk up so close i could reach out and touch it
>we just sit there staring into each other's eyes
>other geese see me, they come to hang out
>they swim away after a while
>one of them comes back
>it was the one i first walked up to

>>2181641

Cool! I work at a university campus that is host to a family of peregrines every summer. They chose this one spot near the roof of one of the buildings a long time ago, i think 15-20 years ago? Have used it ever since. I am trying to get photos of them (i do wildlife photo and have a telephoto for it) but they're tricky. When they're flying they tend to stay at fairly high altitude. My best chance is when they're sitting on top of the light poles along a nearby road. I have seen that a few times but never had my camera with me. I should but a 600mm lens is kind of a beast to be hauling around in my work car.

Neatest animal encounter for me was seeing an eagle flying low over the road in front of my car with what appeared to be a dead seagull in its talons. I could barely believe what i was seeing. ...no camera, of course.

>>2181875

Cute. Geese usually give you a warning of they're thinking about being bitey. They will hiss.

>>2181641
related gif
http://i.imgur.com/XB7ttqo.gifv

>>2181716
I know it's a completely different species, but I can't help the impression that this bird is just a pigeon someone pumped up on steroids.

>hiking in Alberta
>Carrying a lever action .30-.30
>dat Marlin goodness
>Hear a very subtle purr slash growl
>See mountain lion on a rocky outcropping to my left about 15 meters away
>Stands up slowly and bares it's teeth at me
>Shoot it twice and watch as it rolls down the hill
>Finish hike and have sandwiches at the end

Don't give a fuck

Peregrines are pretty cool. When they take down prey-tier birds they make a fist with their talons and punch the other bird.

Kinda delicate though since they need to fly so fast. A broken bone or torn mussel can be much worse than that same injury in a Red Tail.

>>2181641
I've got a very similar story to that
>Walking on the sidewalk and see a squirrel
>Squirrel just chillin' on the grass as I walk by
>Suddenly Hawk out of no where swoops 2 feet in front of me
>I jump cause surprised as fuck
>Squirrel jumps cause surprised as fuck
>Hawk misses first swoop
>Circles back and is dead on
>No more squirrel

>>2182267
Damn, this post is so edgy I think I cut myself.