Big birds

I've noticed some bigger birds in the trees across the driveway from the house recently. This first one was a crow, I guess, but it sat there for an unusually long time. (I cropped all the photos way down for a better look.)

Occasionally it would open its beak and call (or at least I assumed that's what it was doing, since I was in the house with the windows closed and heard no sound). Or maybe it was sickly, I don't know.

Suddenly there was a bluejay above it, checking it out.

A few days later I saw an even bigger bird over there.

It turned its head around and I could tell it was a hawk.

I believe it's a red-tailed hawk. It soon flew off.

I put my birdbath out a few days ago. So far I've only seen a blackbird, a sparrow... and Rainbow (the cat) using it. Thankfully, no turkeys... yet... although they've been around plenty.

Their feathers are rather pretty when the sun shines on them. But I'd rather not see them at all. I think every single one survived the winter. Boo.

Evening view(s)

I happened to look out the kitchen window last night just before supper, and this is what I saw (note the top of the light):

It's a hawk. Here's a closer look:

I'd had to sneak quietly out the back garage door, because I knew a picture through the window screen wouldn't look too great. I was lucky to get those two shots. It didn't take long for it to notice me and do this:

The night before, I had a different view... in the house. I always lock Wispy and Josie in the entry for the overnight, and after doing that Tuesday night, I remembered something I had to do in the basement before going to bed. I opened the entry door and turned on the light, and this is what I saw:

Each has her own bed, and this is Wispy's. They go to their own beds when I put them out there [and sometimes... albeit rarely (usually they make me carry them)... they even go on their own if it's getting late]. But that was how I found them "after hours". They looked so guilty it cracked me up and I had to grab the camera.

Aww, it's really pretty sweet. :)

Tough flying today

It's very windy today. I happened to see this hawk trying to do a little hunting. It seemed pretty hard trying to soar "with wings as eagles" against that wind!

For a while there were two of them, but it was nearly impossible to get both of them in the camera viewer at the same time. Here's a very brief shot.

Almost a mid-air collision there! :)

(At least they're not leaving me any "treats", Becky! ;) )

Birds!

I'd just mentioned in a comment yesterday that there hadn't been many birds around here lately, and all of a sudden I was seeing them all over!

I hadn't seen any robins for a long time, but this one was part of a small flock that appeared for a while yesterday morning. I hope they made good progress going south, because there's a possibility of more of that 'white stuff' in our near future. Aargh.

The bluebirds were still here all day yesterday! I managed to get a shot of the female this time. She's not nearly as bright and pretty as her mate, but still quite lovely. I saw both of them drinking out of the birdbath, and then believe it or not, they each took a bath... brrrr! The female jumped all the way in and did the whole splashy bath thing. The male perched on the rim and only dipped his head in and shook it as he fluttered his wings around... what a wimpy bath (not that I blame him)! ;-)

Below is a junco. They're plentiful this time of year. I guess he was camera shy, because he turned his back on me. But this was the only decently focused photo I managed to get through the dirty window under the deck.

Someone (Dale?) correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this next bird is a song sparrow, possibly an immature one. He wasn't very cooperative, either, and flew away before I could get a good picture.

Update: I knew Dale would know! Turns out it's a Harris's sparrow. See the comments for more info. Thanks, Dale!

And last but certainly not least, look at this nice red tailed hawk I happened to see land across the driveway as I still had the camera in my hand!

So, we do have birds, and Willow was well-entertained yesterday.

The walk and a hawk

The walk, part 3...

To be continued......

Yesterday morning I happened to see a hawk land on the clothesline pole out behind our house. So of course I grabbed the camera and got a few shots as it posed so nicely.

And then it was gracious enough to fly to the nearer pole and pose for a font view!

Another new bird!

New for me, at least! I decided to take a box of stuff out to our "junk pile" out behind our grove. I wanted to get it done before the grass got too tall and the chance of getting ticks got greater. I took my camera along, thinking maybe I'd see a nest or something interesting to photograph. I sure did see something interesting! Flying low over our pasture was this huge white hawk. I was a long ways from it, but managed to get a couple shots before it flew away.

I had to consult my birdbook again, and still not being too sure what it was, I did a Google image search. Now I'm pretty sure it's a Northern Harrier. Cool!

You can't see very well from these small photos, but click on each image to see it bigger.

'Nuther bird

Recently I looked out my kitchen window and was surprised to see this young red-tailed hawk perched on my clothesline pole! (I'm sorry the picture isn't clearer, but considering it was taken from around 30 feet away and through a screen, I guess it's not too bad.)