Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Marauder

A peaceful Sunday, but, strangely, there were few birds feeding. Then we discovered why. There, at the lower end of the back yard, was a hawk feeding on his (her?) Sunday dinner. I later found out it was feeding on one of the Mourning Doves from a large flock that we see every day. I couldn't tell what kind of hawk, since it was sitting in a tangle of vines. I"m no good at hawk identification, anyway. My "good" camera was without batteries, so I used the point-and-shoot. I was too far away to get a good shot, so this is not a good picture at all. I later thought, from looking at the photos, that it was maybe a Sharp Shinned Hawk. We keep an eye out for the feral cats that the neighbors feed, but it looks like now we'll have to watch the tree tops for this fellow. There is a pair that nest over in the trees at the edge of the hay field. I know they have to eat, I just wish they'd do it away from my yard.
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2 comments:

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

I have a hawk that I see in the fields around the house. I have no idea what kind it is. I didn't realize that they would eat other birds. I was just hoping he (she) would catch all the moles in the yard

Anonymous said...

it's a red tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)