Even after a year, going out in the field looking for birds is never quite the same experience for me as the previous day. And once in a while, you hit upon a sight that blows your mind away. This thanksgiving weekend, a Northern harrier did his early morning rounds over the Charleston slough area, in Mountain View looking for his special thanksgiving breakfast. Its the usual routine every morning for the Harrier, but sure enough, today wasn't an easy task by any means as he had to single out a single meal among thousands of possible choices and be successful at the hunt. Usually he gets just one attempt at it and if he fails, he would scare the heck out of all birds and they all would escape quickly.
Miles away thousands of Willets, Avocets, Sandpipers & Dowitchers who had been very busy until then foraging for food to feed their little tummy, all of a sudden spots the approaching predator. Panic spreads across each individual at the speed of thought. Now only thing that matters is saving their life.
I'm watching this scene a mile away from the other side of the slough. A suspenseful music runs through my mind and in anticipation I point my camera at the flock of birds. In an instant, as I expected every single bird takes off from the field at the same time. There is a huge commotion and the noises they made could be heard miles away. Passers by on their regular morning walk, stopped at the breathtaking sight of these birds taking off. People are stunned. It looks like a wonderful sight, but i'm thinking what sort of panic must be going over the poor minds.
I'm still mesmerized just at the thought of what kind of power must a single Norther Harrier or a Red-tailed Hawk or any other Raptors posses among the animal kingdom.
Although this was purely a reaction to a panic situation, this mass takeoff does actually help those poor little birds that are in the bottom of the food chain. As different species of birds fly as a group, they create a mixed pattern of colors made from their wings in motion. This serve as an useful tactic, to confuse any predator who is watching them from above. It makes it harder for them to single out any one bird as the patterns change. Often times this strategy works very well, as it did this time I watched. As far as I could see the Harrier was not successful in catching any bird.
On the other side of the Shoreline lake, the situation was much more peaceful. A young White-crowned sparrow perches on to a nice bush as she begins to bathe herself under the beautiful sun. A relaxing long weekend for her.. I hope yours was too :)
