Fly-By

Yesterday afternoon, the birds were busy feeding. Juncoes, chickadees, goldfinches, house sparrows, and mourning doves flitting to and from the main feeder and the suet feeders. Suddenly, the birds scattered - out of the feeders and out of the yard. The cause of this panic? A Cooper's or sharp-shinned hawk screaming through the yard like a kamikazee pilot on his final approach.

Usually, the hawks will fly in and sit on the fence or in the mulberry tree, looking around for some unsuspecting prey. I've seen the Cooper's Hawk jump down by the brush pile trying to get at the sparrows huddled inside. Eventually, it gave up and flew off, the sparrows exiting their twiggy fortress a short while later when they were sure the coast was clear.

One time a smaller hawks snatch a mourning dove from atop the main feeder. It started eating with the bird clutched tightly in its talons. But it kept looking skyward and much to my surprise (and delight) a red-tailed hawk flew into the yard. I've never seen red-tailed hawks here - in my yard!- but they must be around because this one showed up within minutes of the capture, ready to steal away the food. The Cooper's flew off with its meal, but dropped the dead bird in the area between my fence and my neighbor's fence. The red-tailed hawk couldn't navigate among the tangled lilac and maple branches. And the Cooper's never went back for its meal.

I'm not sure why yesterday's hawk was moving so fast. Did it see something beyond my yard that it was zeroing in on? It was gone as quickly as it came. The songbirds probably appreciated that.