Home»Jasper Ridge Galleries»A Day at a Time: Individual Visits»1/22/2025 Kestrel Hassles Hawk and More

Perched on the Phainopepla Tree, a collapsing old Valley Oak on high ground, a Kestrel launches to intercept a soaring Red-tailed Hawk. After a few feints, he abandons the skies to his larger rival. Almost an hour later, on the next ridge, we meet again. (I feel it is likely to be the same bird, but I don’t know.) He looks straight at me from the summit of a Blue Oak perhaps 100 meters away, then takes off again, just before the main birding group arrives.

A pair of Acorn Woodpeckers take over the Phainopepla Tree after the departure of the Kestrel. Raven caws. A beautiful clear morning on the ridge; haze hugs the Bay.

Abbreviated birding transect for me this month. The birding group carries on.