Silly Human

Yesterday was a great day in and around the woods. Red-tails, immature and adult bald eagles, turkey and black vultures, canada geese, etc., etc. Even some other waterfowl that I haven't identified yet.

And of course, the sharp-shinned hawk above. Now, I did have to get help identifying the hawk because cooper's look similar. As you can see, it is perched upon one of the hooks at my feeding station. Feeding station as in songbirds and woodpeckers--not hawks. To deal with hawks at my feeders, I clap my hands at a distance and they normally fly away. This one didn't.

Instead, this bird let me approach within 5 feet or so. As I approached it, in the top image, the hawk looked at me in disdain. For a moment I wondered if it was going to work me over a bit. Then it slowly floated from its perch and glided above the brush in the woods. After a bit of coaxing, it flew just above the ground, to a neighbor's yard.

This leads to a dilemma. Here we have a beautiful wild bird using my bird feeders as part of its hunting grounds. It's here because I interfered with nature. Of course, based on my observation, my activities have increased the bird population of the woods. I could go on with this thought but it would go around and around.

Anyway, a small hawk, probably the one above returned to the woods this morning. Before I knew it was here, it was chasing a goldfinch in mid-air. The hawk did a loop as it tried to catch the goldfinch. The goldfinch chirped as it flew for all it was worth. Finally, the hawk gave up the chase and flew arcross the creek to the hills on the other side of the creek.

Good luck hunting my feathered friend. Just try to do it somewhere else.

Originally published on November 29, 2009)

Sharp-Shinned Hawk