Look at that yawn.
Early morning and he must have had a late night.
It is a first for me to see the bird yawning, and I got him yawning a few times.
It is a juvenile Harrier Hawk (Polyboroides typus) and he was trying to get warm in the early winter sun. This was the reason for the lack of birdsong this morning, as when one of these appears, all of the birds flee. It is a magnificent bird, and there are only two species of this type. This one is in Africa, and the other one is in Madagascar. The only thing about the bird that we don't like is that he catches small birds and animals.
I will let Wikipedia tell you more about this bird's hunting techniques.
The African harrier-hawk is omnivorous, eating the fruit of the oil palm as well as hunting small vertebrates. Its ability to climb, using wings as well as feet, and its long double-jointed legs, enable this bird to raid the nests of cavity-nesters such as barbets and woodhoopoes for eggs and nestlings. It has been known to prey on introduced species such as feral pigeons, house sparrows and eastern gray squirrels.
They forgot to mention that he even catches small dogs.
The African harrier-hawk is omnivorous, eating the fruit of the oil palm as well as hunting small vertebrates. Its ability to climb, using wings as well as feet, and its long double-jointed legs, enable this bird to raid the nests of cavity-nesters such as barbets and woodhoopoes for eggs and nestlings. It has been known to prey on introduced species such as feral pigeons, house sparrows and eastern gray squirrels.
You can even see him in the source link, hanging from a weaver colony nest.
This was when I saw him landing on a high lamppost across the road.
This was the second yawn, and it is not really a yawn as they open their beaks wide and draw fresh air into their bodies. They really don't yawn like we do. But it looks like it. Lol.
Check out his hairdo in the 4 shots below. I think you will also step out into the road with your camera to get some better shots of him, and he doesn't mind.
Look, he even waved to me, as if to say; Oh no not you again with that camera.
He seemed to like me catching his yawn, and here below he really let me have it.
And that's it for this post about him, and I will post more of him in the future.
I have a habit of taking a lot of pictures of an item with the thought that I can occasionally go back to the pictures to search out the unpublished ones. But I get so many pictures every day, that it becomes a habit to post the pictures on the day and then to think that I will go back to post more. But no such luck, and the photos just keep on piling up in my files. My you, sometimes I remember that I said that I would do a second post about something and I do the post as promised. But not always.
Things are busy at Papillon and at times I can only find a bit of time to squeeze a post in on my blog. But I really don't like to do that as I always get so involved in the posts that I write. We love nature and it has so many different settings that play on one's emotions during filming. It also teaches one patience, and being a one-fingered typing guy it can take me two-three hours to complete a post. Fortunately, my wife is also a proof-reader, and I will never allow AI to write anything for me.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, cheers!
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What a beautiful and expressive bird! We have mainly bald eagles around here as we live within a stone's throw of the Mississippi River.
Thank you my friend, and we are also next to a river. Maybe you should do a post on the bald eagles?
Btw. We spoke to Lizelle today and she said that I must thank you and @tengolotodo for your love and care. She sounds very weak, and thankfully her sister-in-law and some care givers are there to support her. She was happy and relieved to hear that Ed now manages the #silverbloggers community during her absence. There is progress, but it is slow, and she is taking it day by day. Please to keep her in your prayers.
I'll write a post if I can ever get some clear pictures of the eagles. We see a lot more activity during the spring as they're feeding their babies. It's hard to believe how large they are when you're in close proximity to them. Thanks so much for relying the message! I hope she makes a full recovery and we see her back here soon. She has a nephew who lives close to where my wife and I live and was hoping to get to meet her in person during one of her visits—I promised her a ride in the Tesla. She'll definitely be in our prayers.
I would so love to get the eagles with their babies on my camera's zoom, but alas, not to be :)
Lizzie was happy to hear your message, and I can tell you that she will not be back soon, as she has a long road of recovery waiting for her. She also seems to struggle with her memory and her speaking, but they reckon that that would eventually clear after her treatments. She would so have loved to go on a ride with you in your Tesla.
Thank you for the prayers, and we also pray for you guys.
!PIZZA
I know that feeling of not having time to finish up a post, I don't know how you do it with all you have on your plate! I've had a hard time this past week finding time keeping up with real life much less spending much time online.
That is really interesting. I don't think I've ever seen a bird yawn before, it's fascinating really. But I suppose most animals do... I didn't know Herrier hawks went after small dogs. I guess all those toy poodles and chihuahuas are on the menu. I remember living in some desert locations in the southwestern US where you had to bring you pets in at night or they would be snatched up by coyotes or even a cougar. That hawks must have some strong flying abilities!
I do hope things go well for you this week. As always I'm sending a tip to help with your curations as well as my own!
All that I can say is. Such is life :)
Yep! When that hawk is around people lock their small animals up inside their houses. We only have wild cats and leopards over here, and no coyotes or cougars. But then again, we also have cheetahs, lions, hyenas, wild dogs and so many other predators.
The week is a real struggle thus far healthwise, as I cannot survive with only 3 hours of sleep anymore. But life goes on.
Thank you for the tip, and hope that your week is going well.
!PIZZA
!BEER
What a beautiful moments you captured. I so much love the part that he's waving at you lol. He's like "now that you have got your photos, can you let me be?". Nature has a beautiful way of putting smiles on our face. This pictures made my day.