A Few Birds, Fox Squirrels, and a Video

Yesterday, I created a new page on this blog.  It's the one titled "The Birds."  It's a collection of photos of all the birds that I've written about on this blog.  If you haven't seen it yet, take a look.  There are over 100 species!  (Because there are so many photos, it might take a short while to load.)

The most exciting bird of the week was a horned lark.  Horned larks are found throughout most of the United States and Mexico all year round.  They summer throughout Canada and Alaska and winter in the southeastern United States.  They are found in flocks in open areas such as farmland and beaches.  They are small with long legs, brown backs, and white bellies.  They have a black band on their chests, yellow faces, black masks (similar to the common yellowthroat), and two small, black "horns."  I've been seeing them for over a year now at my high school as they fly to the nearby farmland, but I hadn't been able to take any photos.  Finally, on Monday, a beautiful male was standing in an empty lot just a few feet away from me.  Unfortunately, it was startled by a girl walking by, but I was able to take a photo when it flew up onto the roof of a house.  I don't think I'll be able to take any more photos, though, because houses are being built on the empty lots. Below is the male horned lark on the roof.

Horned Lark

I tried to find more larks throughout the week, but there were construction vehicles everywhere.  I did, however, see a common raven flying around in circles.  There is usually a raven or two around my school.  Below is a photo of the raven (notice its long, wedge-shaped tail, as opposed to the short, rounded tail of a crow).

Common Raven

Last weekend, my family went up to Pasadena to visit relatives.  Though I didn't see very many birds, there were a few tree squirrels.  The ones I saw were eastern fox squirrels.  They were introduced into parts of California and other western states around 100 years ago.  Right now, they're only found in urban areas, but there's concern that they could spread and displace the native western gray squirrels.  Below are two photos of eastern fox squirrels.

Eastern Fox Squirrel

Eastern Fox Squirrel

Today I saw a young Cooper's hawk on a telephone pole.  It didn't stay for very long, but I was able to take a few photos.  Below is the hawk (notice the brown, streaked plumage).

Cooper's Hawk

I took this video last year, but I'd never gotten around to uploading it.  It is a video of a flock of starlings in a tall pine tree in my neighborhood.  Unfortunately, the tree was cut down.  It was old, but a favorite tree for starlings, hawks, kingbirds, doves, and many other birds.  In the video below, watch for a Cassin's kingbird to fly up at around 0:19.