I startled a ground squirrel while looking for something that was chirping in a fenced-off area of a park with a pair of transmission towers.
The squirrel hid, but this hawk - which I suspect was looking for the squirrel - flew out and perched on the fence for a few minutes before flying up to one of the lower struts on the nearer tower.
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A week later, all the weeds in the enclosure where I saw the hawk have been cleared out and the feral palm trees cut down.
That's probably why I was able to get a clear view of some of the ground squirrels, looking out from their burrows and climbing around on the tree stumps.
I went to the same park again today. I spotted a Fox Squirrel eating a pine cone in a tree elsewhere in the park, and a California Ground Squirrel standing guard outside the enclosure's chain link fence.
Seriously, it. did. not. move. for several minutes while another ground squirrel ran inside the fence and waited, and I moved to a better angle for photos, until it abruptly turned around and ran through or under the fence.
#squirrel #photo #nature