Hello nasty

I said I wouldn't post again until I'd done something. Well, what I did was watch birds for about 12 hours over two successive days. Sunday was the last day to see species I could add to my August at-home list and Monday was the first day I could see birds that would count towards September's tally. It was a productive couple of "big sits" in terms of birds of prey, with three Harris's hawks, two red-tailed hawks, two zone-tailed hawks, two American kestrels, and one peregrine falcon passing by at one time or another. And note that these are sightings of different individuals, not repeated observations of the same birds. Not too shabby for a suburban hawk watch.

I also saw this bird of (dead) prey perched uncharacteristically on the utility pole behind my house. Perhaps it was taking a break from a long morning spent in the performance of ecosystem services, by which I mean a long morning of eating carrion. And for that, this turkey vulture is supremely adapted.