Yesterday was a magical day at Bolsa Chica. I got numerous photos of birds engaged in some sort of action like this Great Blue Heron about to eat a small fish. My husband, Jerry, says it looks like a cartoon fish that I Photoshopped it into it's beak. I did not! But I did reduce the opacity of the chain link fence and rocks behind the heron.

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I originally thought that this was a Reddish Egret, but when I returned to Bolsa Chica and saw the same bird, I could distinctly see the greenish legs. Additionally, was told by other birders that it was in fact a Little Blue Heron. The juvenile is white and later turns blue.

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The hawk had just dropped its catch to the ground making him look ticked off to me.

Here are the descriptors used to identify red-tailed hawks:
Long, broad, rounded wings.
Variable belly band of dark splotches,
Tail pale reddish from below,
Dusky trailing edge to wings

(From Cornell Lab of Ornithology_

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