Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Red-shouldered Hawk preys upon Texas Coral Snake

  I have often wondered, but never had anything for sure and still don't for photo documentation on the following.  However late this evening I saw an adult Red-shouldered Hawk with a small, non-limp Texas Coral Snake, Micurus fluvinus perched in one of the many dead oaks on the property.  The bird with prey, flew before I could get a photo, which would have been a bad photo anyway given the light conditions and distance.   This is truly a lifer for me as I have forever wondered what a Coral Snakes predator could possibly be knowing how venomous even a small snake is..  The hawks are nesting very nearby so I see them often, usually with prey items I can not identify, so I assume they already have chicks though that would be much earlier than they typically do, or perhaps this is just part of the courtship.

  Saw my first Whip-poor-will of the year today during a walk through my woods.  I flushed it from a cedar limb...Wish I had known it was there before I flushed it.  At 8:20P on the dot I heard one close and a second distant Whip for about 20 seconds before they closed down.  Unfortunately at the same time the area pairs of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks came circling around making a clear hear difficult.

  A Hooded Warbler male was also in the yard today which I got to see, but unfortunately I had to spend most of the day inside on the PC.   Per my critter cams the Juncos, Spotted Towhee and  Gray Fox are still visiting.