Tag Archives: photography

In keeping with the bird theme this week, I am noticing that the backyard predators are becoming patio and deck predators. They must be running out of field mice, voles and other rodents down in the meadow.

Friday the young Cooper’s hawk decided to hang out in the maple tree off our patio and watch the happenings. What is interesting about this predator, the birds don’t seem to care about him. He is looking for bigger prey usually. While he was there the juncos just remained in the burning bush.

Now today, the sharp shinned hawk felt like making the bird bath his perch in case any small birds were inclined to show up. He didn’t even flinch as I took at least a dozen pictures of him through the patio door. He was about 25 feet away from our door.

He causes the most havoc around here. Swoops in low and at high speed and the birds scatter. Occasionally one hits a window in their panic and he gets an easy meal. It is the trade off here. No cover in the winter on the deciduous trees and bushes, so the birds are more vulnerable.

I do know this year the two of them are doing a very good job at keeping mice out of the house. The population must be smaller due to their constant hunting in the garden and the meadow. I have only trapped one this winter. Usually I have at least half a dozen squeezing up through the openings to the crawl space under the washer and dryer. We have to have traps in the laundry room all winter. This year either the warmer weather, or the presence of two predators is keeping them at bay.

It took me a while to get used to them when we moved here. Being up close and personal to acipitors is just part of the whole experience in this rural setting.

This is one of at least three hawks who hunt in our yard. He came in low and fast today trying to grab a squirrel. The squirrel did manage to evade.

And yes, he is quite large. He wasn’t interested in the small birds. He was after squirrel. When he got tired of me trying to take his picture through the kitchen doors, he flew off to his favorite hunting spot on the edge of the meadow.

It didn’t take the squirrels long to return to their grazing through the suet and the corn.

Creating the habitat has presented challenges. Keeping squirrels out of the good stuff. The green feeder where the hawk was standing is where I put the good seed. It is fully squirrel proof. As for the suet, sometimes I put out basic suet and let the squirrels get into it, but I now buy the hot pepper suet. They don’t stop, but it slows them down.

I do put out seed on the ground, out under the azalea bushes, in a somewhat protected area. What is amazing is how quickly the “word” spreads, once I slam the top of the green feeder, birds come swooping in to see what is out there. This is my ground mix.

Fruit and nut mix. Unsalted peanuts in the shell. Some cracked corn. A few safflower hearts. I put this out every few days. The birds mostly come to the feeders but the jays and the resident crows forage around in the bushes for this mix.

The most important thing out there, though, is the heated water in the birdbath. I have a bird spa heater in it. It has to be cleaned out about once a week. You can see how it gets messed up with all the use. Today again the birds are bathing in it. This is something that attracts a very large amount of birds in the winter.

Now I have juncos, downy woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, goldfinches, house finches, titmice, chickadees, wrens, red and white breasted nuthatches, cardinals, blue jays and crows daily. We also get two or three different sparrows occasionally. I have a rare visit from a hairy woodpecker, and the robins come in for water too. We have not seen the cedar waxwings yet this year, and the bluebirds showed up this week for the first time.

When I do the backyard bird count in February, I get at least eighteen different species, when you count the geese and the vultures and the hawks, all who fly over during the day.

To me, having this entertainment outside my kitchen windows makes doing dishes a treat and not a chore. You never know what will be seen next.

I hope the cedar waxwings return as they are really a cute bird to watch.