Up and Out Early

A lovely walk on campus this morning. Right off the bat we saw a dead snake, which was fascinating—so many little bones, like a fish. If things like that didn’t give me the heebie jeebies on some level, I’d be lugging them home to take apart, but I am fundamentally more squeamish than curious, which is probably just as well. There were deer in the meadow, just their ears sticking up through the thick golden grasses. And a fluffle of rabbits* keeping the weeds down. Fantastic views of the ocean from the top of the hill. And as we paused on the path, suddenly this absolutely silent white raptor, wings outspread, glided over the drainage ditch right in front of us. So close. Silent as the breath of god. He stalled once, and circled, spotting something in the undergrowth, then continued on. 

But now look, here he is on the fence post, holding his furry breakfast. The extra is a little more graphic (speaking of squeamish). And does anyone know what bird this is? I thought maybe kite, but all the kite photos seem to have distinctive kohl eyes. I couldn't find any other white raptors, and it's definitely not brown like the usual hawks.


*a group of bunnies can also be called a herd, but really, what would you choose?