This raptor was sitting on one of the fence posts in California-T. I’m no good at identifying birds beyond chickens and ducks but maybe it’s some kind of Chickenhawk? [Ignore the terrible fence posts.]
The herd enjoys the lucerne. It is a bit over-mature but in the midsummer heat it still tastes good.
The calves eat away too.
Thirty-one the perfect heifer can’t wait for the water bowl to fill after a move. The tank might have been full all morning, but when I move it to a new location and start to fill it there’s always someone who decides it is time for a drink. If there’s a rush I have to stand there and watch in case an over-eager cow pushes the bowl under the fence.
In the above photo you can also see the previous lucerne section eaten and trampled.
The dung beetles are here. It is like they’ve been missing and have just come back. Some cowpats get a few holes and some get obliterated in a short time.
You go, beetles, make our fields more fertile.
As usual this has been a hot summer. As the cows eat in the heat what better song to sing than this upbeat number from the irrepressible Fishbone?
grasspunk.com 
Northern Groshawk?
That’s my best guess.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yasa_/6996189307/
It almost looks like a Black-Winged Kite, but those are allegedly limited to Spain and Portugal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_Kite
Brent,
That’s a duck.
-Wes
what a load of crap!
I’m so glad to know that someone besides myself posts pictures of poop! Hmm, let’s see if I can be even more alliterative . . . I’m so glad to know that other puerile persons post pictures of poop plops! There, that’s better. Now I better scat! 🙂
Rough-legged buzzard.
Steph, they look close enough. I’ll look out for the leg feathers. Wikipedia’s article has that species listed as not being out in our parts.
I am still a bit flummoxed by it, but I think it could be a pale variant of a common buzzard. I saw many around the farm two weeks ago.
Short-toed eagle — if big in size.