Hawks and Heron....the fishermen in my creek

 I like to post here occasionally to let people know that I'm still alive and kicking :-)  We survived the pandemic and are both vaccinated.  COVID numbers have gone down rapidly.

This spring I sat and watched the creek that runs by our condo quite a bit.  There is a pump that brings water from the lake and runs it through the creek all day over little rock spills and waterfalls.  Around 5:00 in the evening the pump shuts down and the water level drops.  Small fish get caught in the pools of water where it is deeper and can't get to the big pool at the end of the creek.

A beautiful Red-shouldered hawk began to show up every evening as the creek shut down.

He obviously knew what time the pump shut down and the fish were trapped and the water level low.  He would sit over the little island and then drop down and get fish trapped in the shallows.

Here he is holding a big one he caught.  He would peck at them some and usually fly off with them eventually.  I don't think he liked me watching him, but he didn't let it stop him.

A close up of the fish....pretty big!

This went on for a week or more.  I think that he must have had a family he was fishing for.  He always flew off in the same direction with his fish.

One day another type of hawk showed up after we had a big rain storm and there were puddles under the trees on the other side of the creek.  He came to bathe as shown below.  I think it is a Cooper's Hawk.

Then about the time the hawk stopped coming, the heron showed up.  He liked to stand at the little waterfall while it was still running and wait for the fish there.

This is right outside my sewing room window, so I didn't even have to creep outside to try to watch.  The heron is a lot more nervous about people than the hawk was.

He got some pretty good sized fish.  

Bulging neck.....I think he needs to swallow.

Brought this one ashore.  Spit it out and picked it back up.  Don't know what the problem was.

Sitting by the lake across our road.  He can't fish as well there because the sides are too steep and maybe the water is too deep.

There is always something going on along the water.