Lori, On Monday I had an overfly by an American Reven here near Lamar and 29th. This is the most "in town" raven I have ever seen even though they are regular just a few miles west of here (Loop 360, etc.). John C. Arvin Research Associate Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 103 West Hwy 332 Lake Jackson, TX 77566 jarvin@xxxxxxxx www.gcbo.org Austin, Texas ---------------------------------------- From: "LMarkoff" <canyoneaglej@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 8:07 PM To: "texbirds" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [texbirds] Red-tailed Hawk with Snake - photos Hi Texbirds, This afternoon while running errands I swung by the Sendera ponds (intersection of Bremner and Companeros) to see what was up. In addition to a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks there were two other Ducks on the back pond. It was pretty far and without a scope it was tough to see them, but I decided they were female Scaup, without trying to guess whether Lesser or Greater. While I was fiddling with Ducks the Blue Jays kept trying to tell me there was something much more interesting about. "Look here, look here," they called, "You are missing the show, you doltish human!" I finally paid attention to them and saw a Red-tailed Hawk holding a long snake, while balancing itself on the fence with its wings outstretched. The Blue Jays were dive bombing the RTHA as they screamed at it. Eventually the RTHA had enough and took off for the woods, still holding on to its snakey snack. Photos of the RTHA and the Ducks are here: http://flickr.com/gp/canyoneagle/89e654/ If anyone can id the snake for me, I would appreciate it. Moral of the tale, pay attention when the Blue Jays are trying to tell you something! Lori Markoff Austin, near Brodie and Slaughter Lanes Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner