Hawk Sighting

Hawk Sighting

This has been an interesting time in my backyard. Last week there were three deer sprinting through the bushes on their way to who knows where. I live in a housing development but there are a few woodsy places not far away. Why would they venture out of those beautiful areas to a place with houses and fences?

Then this week, there was a hawk hanging out under the leafless redbud tree out back. It just stood there for a while, seemingly checking out its surroundings. I’ve seen hawks circling above my yard and occasionally swooping down to grab a bird or chipmunk but this one seemed to be just hangin’ out. Then it flew to a branch on the tulip tree and there I could see the white under-feathers of a catch that hadn’t been obvious before. Later it returned to the ground and really chowed down, not my favorite thing to see though I realize that every creature needs to eat.

I imagine we’ll be seeing more hawks around here in the future. As the land gets more developed, the wildlife become more visible. We take away habitat. Even as more land is set aside for green preservation, it doesn’t undo what already has been used for human purposes. I wonder what incredible sightings will come next. I hope we all can learn to live peacefully with each other.

More hawk photos and info:

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/hawks.htm

Hawk facts:

http://theraptortrust.org/the-birds/hawk-facts/ 

Hawk in Nature

Hawk in Nature

It snowed again, a beautiful powdery fluff that made everything seem so pristine. I did what was needed, shoveling the front drive and relieving the cars from their white burden. As I was working I heard the birds around me  – a woodpecker knocking on the trunk of a tree, the frantic chirping of the finches as they rushed in and out of the forsythia bush, geese chatting overhead as they made their way south in a long vee. What I didn’t hear was something that was happening in the backyard.

There were no birds on the feeders, a rather unusual occurrence for the time of day, especially during a snowy day when food is harder to find. They had been there earlier in the day, flitting back and forth between mouthfuls of seed. A mourning dove had joined them and was quietly cooing. Now there was silence. Hmmm.

Then I knew why. Toward the back of the yard was a large bird – a hawk! It was on the snow, pecking at something. By the look of the feathers underneath its feet, the mourning dove was its meal. Poor thing.

Nature can seem cruel at times but then everything has to eat. In the natural scheme of things, there is something for everyone. It is when part of nature becomes greedy that cruelty comes in. Animals that are forced out of their natural habitat must find a source of food. WHYY has been presenting a series by M. Sanjayan called A New Wild about the interaction of people and animals. It is worth seeing and, even more so, contemplating our impact on this incredible earth.

An interview with M. Sanjayan:

http://blog.conservation.org/2015/02/why-i-made-earth-a-new-wild/

Hawk in Suburbia

Hawk in Suburbia

I am used to seeing hawks off in the distance, wings spread, floating on the air currents beyond the height of our neighborhood trees. There is a grace to their flying, so smooth that it almost seems they aren’t flying at all.

Occasionally a hawk will come closer, just above our backyard trees. No doubt it is scoping out the movements on our bird feeders. Most of the time the birds are savvy and disappear when the hawk is around, though not always. I have found splashes of feathers on the lawn, usually from a mourning dove that didn’t move off fast enough. And we have enough squirrels and chipmunks to satisfy the hungriest hawk.

This week I was surprised, however, to find a hawk right in our backyard, sitting in the maple tree near our patio. It wasn’t the kind of place I would expect a hawk to be. It was high for people but not typical hawk height. And it was close to an inhabited site. The bird sat on a lower branch, another unusual activity. It seemed to be aware of every move we made near our back storm door but it wasn’t inclined to leave. Eventually, it took off across our yard to places unknown.

I admit I was shaken. It is one thing to see such a creature in the distance and quite another to have it within whistling distance, which I couldn’t help doing. Was it getting used to us? Not necessarily a good thing. Our living needs are obviously different. Can we live together in peace? As people take up more land space from the natural inhabitants the question becomes urgent. I hope we can do a better job of co-existing with the hawks than we often do with people who have divergent lifestyles.

A common bird in America:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/red-tailed-hawk/

Fine for Finches

Fine for Finches   

In the summer our forsythia bush is green and full, creating a private nesting environment for a host of our local House Finches. They are the little birds that flock around the feeders and serenade us with song.

The bush is pretty bare, now that winter has arrived. A few leaves are hanging on in homage to the warm weather we had this fall but otherwise it would not seem to be a particularly good place for protective covering. Yet the finches find it to be a good spot to hang out.

And it is understandable. Look at the forsythia’s winter coloring, all grays and browns, perfect blend for a finch. At least for the female House Finch. Male House Finches are more colorful, with splashes of red feathers on their heads and chest. But even so, the inside of the bush is a tangle of branches, easy enough for such a small bird to move through but hard for a larger bird, such as the predatory hawk that has been hovering around the treetops recently, to navigate. It seems that the bush’s qualities are just fine for finches. They come out when they choose and hunker in when they need to.

  

And perhaps that is a quality we humans should cultivate. It is wonderful to be out in the open, to show the world our best, our beauty, our skills. Then there are times for introspection. This year has been rough with storms, with guns, with political stagnation.

Let’s make next year safer. Let’s be proactive in the face of natural threats. Let’s be protective of our public spaces. Let’s work together for the good of all. Let’s make 2013 a year of cooperation and caring so that we can sing our own beautiful songs.

Listen to the finches:

http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=15

Some finch facts:

http://www.thegalenaterritory.com/viewpage.cfm?id=221

The Survival of the Cleverest

Crash! Bam! I heard a lot of banging against the windows in my kitchen, dining room, and smack into the glass panel of my back door. It startled me the first time this happened but by now it is somewhat common and I know what it means: a hawk is on the prowl. The birds take off from the feeders and bushes, from their comfortable perches on the roof, and head into what looks like clear space in their panicked flight to escape. I am always surprised that they don’t give themselves concussions, they hit that hard, though I haven’t yet seen any bird lying zonked out on the ground.

As usual, I ran to the window to check out the drama. Creatures were scattering everywhere in mad disarray. What surprised me though, was what the squirrels were doing. One of them looked up at the sky, then dashed onto the bare limbs of the butterfly bush under a canopy of concealing snow. Another wiggled its way between the seed pails we keep on the patio and blended into the shadows. The most intriguing of all, however, was the squirrel who found an alternative use for the baffles we put up to keep exactly those critters off the bird feeders. This one shimmied up the pole and into the tube. Normally, if they are just investigating the possibility of getting up to the feeders that way, they soon see the futility of it and come right down. This time the squirrel stayed silent and hidden with all of its parts tucked tightly inside.

Sure enough, I saw the hawk whip through the backyard, its wings spread wide but nothing in its talons. It took off beyond the tulip tree to parts unknown. The squirrel in the baffle slowly peeked under the tube and looked around. No hawk. It slid down and started eating the seeds that had fallen from the feeders. And then everyone returned to resume what they had been doing before the alarm went off.

I thought of Darwin and the survival of the fittest theory. The scene I had just witnessed made me re-think what the fittest means. Is it the most physically fit, the strongest? Is it the most adaptable gene pool? Perhaps it refers to a superior mental agility. Maybe it’s all of the above. Certainly, in this case, survival was due to some very clever actions. It makes me wonder how over the years scientists could discount the thought process in animals. That seems to be changing. I hope so. This was an impressive display of individual problem solving and what clearly seems an example of the survival of the cleverest.
I am sure I’m not the only one to witness the actions of some very clever animals. If you have, too, share what you’ve seen with us.