Red-tailed Vs. Scissor-tailed (56K warning)

[cfcRebel]

I saw this on my way to work this morning. Despite the noise, blurr, heavy CA.... i think it is still an interesting series.

#1: There was a time, one handsome adult red-tailed hovered over a highway....

#2: enjoying a nice morning, clear sky, beautiful sunrise and clean air.... (errr....forget about the clean air part, it's Ozone Action Day. :p )

#3: then found his favorite lamp post to perch on.....

#4: Suddenly his radar showed a fierce intruder, 20 ft at 2 o'clock......

#5: enemy had his Hellfire weapon locked on! Enemy alert went off!

#6: enemy took a 1000mph dive, prepared to attack.....

#7: but wait! There was a sudden U-turn! Enemy did not aim at the red-tailed. He took a turn and headed away from the red-tailed! :shock: What's going on?

Scissor-tailed, "Damn! I thought it was a huge bug from far away. Ah, those stupid old glasses almost cost me my life. Time to get a new pair from LensMaster!"

[cfcRebel]

continue...

[cfcRebel]

contonue....

[cfcRebel]

End.

[CyberDyneSystems]

:lol:

Great to see these side by side.. Never realized how much smaller the Kite is (we don't get them 'round here)

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for looking CDS.

Oppsss..... i should have mentioned earlier, it's a scissor-tailed flycatcher, not kite. :o

[Skip Souza]

Cool photos. Love the story line. Major chuckles.

[cfcRebel]

Thanks Skip! I'm glad you enjoy them. :)

[scrumpy]

I think the bigger one was smoker and looking for a light! Nice pictures.

[Airedale1]

Great sequence!

[Paul A]

Nice pics, love the story, is the scissor tail a flycatcher?

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for the comments Scrumpy, Airedale, Paul. You are right, it is a scissor-tailed flycatcher. ;)

[tupe]

Great series, CFC! Interesting how the red-tail puffed up at near-impact.

Cool shots.

[cfcRebel]

Great series, CFC! Interesting how the red-tail puffed up at near-impact.

Cool shots.Thanks tupe!
Wow, i didn't even notice that! Great eyes! I guess the flycatcher did scare the big guy a little.:D

[ngannet]

Wow...that's a cool series and funny captions!!! How lucky you were to see that happening. I love the way the Red Tailed is looking at the Scissor tailed (especially in shot 5)!!!! I would love to see a scissor tailed flycatcher! We get them rarely around here. Next time I hear of one, I'm taking off from work and heading wherever it is! I like the "WTF" part...too funny! :lol:

[cfcRebel]

Thanks for the kind words ngannet! :)
I take my camera with me to work everyday. But only today I saw such interesting scene that made me stopped and pulled over.
When the temperature is rising in Austin, the STF is everywhere. They are really beautiful to watch, especially in action catching bugs in flight. But i didn't know they also have the guts to take on a hawk.

[ngannet]

Thanks for the kind words ngannet! :)
I take my camera with me to work everyday. But only today I saw such interesting scene that made me stopped and pulled over.
When the temperature is rising in Austin, the STF is everywhere. They are really beautiful to watch, especially in action catching bugs in flight. But i didn't know they also have the guts to take on a hawk.

Good idea to take your camera to work everyday. That's great that you see the STF everywhere! They're probably so common, people don't get so excited about them. Funny how smaller birds often chase raptors. I see crows and smaller birds harassing red taileds all the time. About a month ago, I saw a small bird (possibly a sparrow of some type) harassing a Great Horned Owl!!!! Now that takes guts!!! And I saw a Cooper's Hawk chasing a Turkey Vulture too. Not that TVs are so vicious, but their size is intimidating!

[cfcRebel]

Wow, I wish i would see something like that! Of course, with my camera by my side. ;)

[Paul A]

Years ago I saw an osprey harrass a bald eagle on the Rogue river in Oregon. Of course I didn't have a good camera then.

[cfcRebel]

Years ago I saw an osprey harrass a bald eagle on the Rogue river in Oregon. Of course I didn't have a good camera then.
At least you were fortunate to see such amazing scene. I have yet to see more than one big bird near each other (turkey vultures and black vultures don't count :) ).

[mrclark321]

LOL...Great series Rebel

Dan

[cfcRebel]

Thanks Dan! ;)