Sky Hawk is watching you...

August 5, 2008 11:40 AM

You may know of Kitundu as a sound artist (previously on Mefi). But did you know he also takes amazing pictures of birds?

Without leaving the city of San Francisco, Kitundu has found and documented:

Patch – Seven months in the life of an urban Red-tailed hawk

Red-tailed hawks at the Sutro Baths (from his blog)

At San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, Red Shouldered Hawks have learned to hunt pigeons and coots.

Some pictures are a little gruesome. All of them are beautiful

posted by rtha (10 comments total)

Wow, gorgeous pix—thanks for the post!
posted by languagehat at 11:59 AM on August 5, 2008

Gorgeous photos! I just wish there was some way to see them all without clicking on individual thumbnails.

I do believe I've met the blue heron in some of his pictures. This heron hangs out at Crissy Field a lot and is quite unimpressed by humans, letting people get within a few feet of him. We got some lovely closeup pictures (without any skill on our part) of him hunting and stalking - without a zoom lens! Which is not to diss Kitundu's amazing photos, just to say that once in a while even an amateur can get lucky.

Now the other birds are another story altogether. A hawk on the wing, in focus, no motion blur, good detail - I dream of getting a shot like that once in my life, and this guy does it repeatedly. I'll have to bookmark his site when I get home tonight, so I can enjoy the pictures I'll never be able to take myself. Thanks for the post!
posted by Quietgal at 12:11 PM on August 5, 2008

Oh yeah. I'm jealous.
posted by quin at 12:26 PM on August 5, 2008

A couple months ago Walter performed at the art gallery I run and we projected his photos behind him during the show. Every forth one involved some kind of half eaten mammal or fish being carried away, which provided some amazing context for the music.
posted by puppy kuddles at 3:58 PM on August 5, 2008

But did you know he also takes amazing pictures of birds?

No I didn't. And now I do. And I'm glad.
posted by shelleycat at 5:39 PM on August 5, 2008

Those Kitundu are amazing pictures. This page has easier thumbnails. Fun. My fave, the pigeon. Ooh, this landscape of his reminds me of an Albert Bierstad painting.
posted by nickyskye at 6:20 PM on August 5, 2008

ach *Those pictures by Kitundu are amazing.
posted by nickyskye at 6:21 PM on August 5, 2008

I met Kitundu a couple months ago at the Exploratorium and got to see him play one of his turntable-harps-- beautiful sounds. (And then I got to try it myself!) He mentioned the bird photos, but I had no idea they were this spectacular!
posted by moonmilk at 6:59 PM on August 5, 2008

Wow, these photos are wonderful, it's like he understands the soul of birds.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:43 PM on August 5, 2008

Gorgeous pictures.

Birds of prey are amazing, whenever I look at them I always think I'm looking at how dinosaur's behaved, that idea totally captivates me. Especially in the pictures above of the Hawk hunting the pigeon and coot, I'm sure that could be a raptor or whatever, if just look at it with a bit of imagination.
posted by munchbunch at 1:49 AM on August 6, 2008