Yesterday morning at work, I was outside smoking a cigarette. Yes I smoke and I know I shouldn't. When I am outside at work, I tend to pace. The birds were in a panic. I walked down to see what was going on. There was a bunch of grackles. I looked down to where they were flying and in the parking lot, not 15 feet from me was a huge hawk. Not yet experienced enough to know what kind of hawk it was, I guessed it was either a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-shinned Hawk. The grackles keep swooping on the hawk and it flew. I hurried up to see where it went. It flew up on one of the light pole. The grackles kept swooping. Then I noticed that the hawk had caught and killed a little bird. I am not going into the gorgy details and to tell the truth, most of the time I didn't watch. I know this is life, but it bothers me to see this. I went back in and called Barb and told her what was going on. She asked if I had my camera with me and of course I didn't. She got dressed and came over with her camera and took these two pictures.
picture courtesy of Barb.The guy I work with knows a lot about birds and I asked him to come out to see if he could identify the hawk. He did and it was a Cooper's Hawk.
After awhile the hawk flew toward the woods. Now a couple of crows were after him. He stayed in one of the trees a short time and flew, with the crows in pursuit. (Hopefully, if you click on the picture, with my supersized setting, you will see the hawk with the two crows chasing him)
picture courtesy of Barb.
I have to say that this was a pretty amazing experience, but for me it doesn't take much.
picture courtesy of Barb.
4 comments:
The first picture came up, but did not enlarge. The second one didn't even come up.
But it's a nice little post.
Great post! It's always so interesting to watch hawk behavior, even when it's a bit graphic for a weak stomach. They're incredibly powerful birds, and when you study the detail on their feathers, you realize just how pretty they are! I'm always fascinated by the smaller birds, like Jays and Crows, that harass the larger raptors.
don't laugh at me but as I was reading I was getting excited for you and the whole experience, except for ther circle of life moment! I often rescue worms from the driveway and hide them in the bushes while telling the birds that they're sooooooo selfish, I fed them, let the worms live.
I adore all the furry love on the sidebar.
Whenever there is a hawk above, our magpies send out a warning call to their young and then there is complete silence. All the magpies look towards the sky and then they send out another call and the adults fly in formation and attack the hawk until it leaves their territory. The tiny birds are silent until the threat has passed. I am always fascinated watching the birds manage their world. They are so incredibly smart. Better that the hawk find a rat or a mouse or something.
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