The kids and I went to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to catch the Pavilion of Wings butterfly exhibit before it closes for the season this weekend.
As we picnicked on the lawn, a huge hawk, possibly a juvenile red-tail hawk, swooped low to the ground and landed on the handrail of the walkway to the museum. We got about ten feet from this magnificent creature. Only after it flew away did I remember I had my camera with me. My apologies for the blurry shots and filthy lens. The event is still worth sharing. We watched the giant bird fly east towards the rose garden.
The kids followed suit and took flight.
A few more posts about the NHM:
Posts
More likely a sharp-shinned hawk, very common in our area.
ReplyDeleteI thought it might be sharp-shinned, but my ID books don't show the juveniles with a white chest. Sharp-shinned chests are streaked chestnut brown like a Cooper's hawk. I looked at some clearer shots online, and this amazing shot from flickr's beachwalker2008 shows a bird similar to the one sighted outside the NHM.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/beachwalker2007/733571025/
Check out these beautiful photos from Keith Alderman on flickr of a Sharp-shinned that was visiting his bird feeder.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/25877070@N02/4147893557/in/photostream/
I'm always amazed by good bird photography.