the bird that you can see

We had a wildlife day today. At breakfast, we had a large raccoon amble across the deck. At lunchtime when I was setting up the grill, this large hawk was looming above me:

bird1.jpg

bird2.jpg

bird3.jpg

What alerted me was the skrrt, skrrt of it rubbing its beak on the aerial, as in the last picture. Once it had finished gnawing on its recently deceased dinner, it sat about for a bit (quite literally fed up) seeming unperturbed by me sticking a big ol’ lens at it. But then, if you had Leatherman tools for hands and tin-snips for a face, you wouldn’t be worried about anyone trying to mess with you either.

mother’s day treat: critters!

We were visited by the raccoon family last night; mother and four little ones. Please excuse the ‘painterly’ blur; it’s kinda hard to handhold a 300mm lens for 1/3s exposure. Plus, wee raccoons are speedy little things.

mom and baby raccoon

wee raccoon

wee raccoons

wee raccoon

This one was taken a few days back (of the mother alone) in better light:

mom raccoon

urban critter

A big raccoon just walked along the back wall of our garden.

Yeah, I know, I really should stop being amazed by city wildlife. Maybe when I grow up.