no birds cars - firebirds

Walk About Martinez -- Waterbird Regional Preserve

18.05.12

I stepped out of the car at Waterbird Regional Preserve,  situated on the edge of the Shell Refinery, and immediately noticed a distinct lack of birds, not a one, not on the water, not in the air.  Shell Oil’s towers and labyrinthine pipes and catwalks crawled skyward, a surreal landscape of monumental industrialism, as cars sped by on Highway 680, all forming a very unnatural backdrop to the pristine, Al McNabney Marsh, but there was not a bird in sight.  

I was disappointed and thought to come back another day when I caught a flash of movement to my right.  I spun around, and saw nothing.  More movement just above, as a shadow streaked across the ground, and this time he flew fifteen feet above me right over my head and into my field of vision.  It was a northern harrier, a magnificent bird of prey that skims the landscape often just feet off the ground, hoping to swoop over a rise and snatch some little critter for a meal.   

He soared overhead and then dove low to the ground, zooming just over the grass on the hills and topping the reeds in the marsh, hunting with amazing displays of aerial prowess.  I’m not a birder, but the white band above the tail and his in-flight acrobatics made identification easy.  The British Harrier Jet that can take off and land vertically is named after this raptor.  A red tailed hawk or an eagle will soar at a great height and then dive on its prey.  The harrier gets in close and for the spectator on the ground, puts on a display like an old barnstorming show without the noise of engines.  

Source: Patch.com