I was sitting at my computer but really day-dreaming as I stared out the window. Then all of the birds (I mean every last one) took flight and were going helter skelter (did you know the Beatles did a song named Helter Skelter back in 1968?). Then, just seconds behind the panic-stricken exodus came a hawk diving from aloft at high speed. He was moving fast! The hawk was headed toward the ground at about a 60 degree angle, swooping near the ground in what appeared to me as in pursuit of a target i.e. breakfast. One might wonder how his wings stay attached with such speed and steep turns.
A theme I've repeated a number of times in this blog: Things happen so fast if your not lucky to be looking in the right direction you will miss the whole thing. This event happened in less than 2 seconds from beginning to when the hawk was out of sight.
About an hour later the birds had returned. Suddenly the panic and helter skelter exodus began anew followed by the hawk diving toward either breakfast or dessert. Again it was over in a few seconds.
Following lunch the hawk was observed swooping down with repetitive panic ensuing. This time he was here long enough to circle a tree in hot pursuit of a small sparrow like bird.
We still have not observed any of the hawks actually taking any prey. From my perspective it would appear Joe was better at bird catching than the hawks we've seen. I believe the hawks make a lot more visits than we've see and their hunt must be successful at times or they wouldn't be around.
These birds are magnificent.
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| This is NOT a picture from my backyard but it sure is a cool picture. |
1 comment:
If you put koi in your pond I bet you might see those hawks a bit more often... or "pet" rabbits... or birds on a string!! We have osprey here and the electric guys installed a nest pole next to our pond. It's really neat to watch them fly with fish in their talons. We stock the pond so their meals get expensive. Lucky Birds. J9
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