Broad-winged hawk in an oak tree across the street.
It was being noisily mobbed by robins and catbirds, with a few alarm calls from chickadees thrown in for good measure. I would not have noticed this nicely camouflaged bird otherwise. The visitor didn’t stay long.
Quite the wildlife weekend. Here is an otter in our pond this morning. It was swimming around hissing at us.
Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon I spotted a small hawk out the living room window.
Did it see me too?
Beautiful little Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Perched in the gingko tree in the front yard. I didn’t even see the woodpecker when I took this picture!
The hawk started to move around the tree, hop-flying from branch to branch.
Hunter and hunted.
The woodpecker flew off with the hawk in hot pursuit. I don’t know how it ended – they disappeared into the woods.
Looks like I get to add a HAWK to my count on this, my first counting day for the winter 2015-16 season of Project Feederwatch.
Sharp-shinned hawk perched on the blackberry arbor, swiveling its head around to watch the feeders for tasty little songbirds.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology: “Sharp-shinned Hawks breed in deep forests. During migration, look for them in open habitats or high in the sky, migrating along ridgelines. During the nonbreeding season they hunt small birds and mammals along forest edges and sometimes at backyard bird feeders, causing a wave of high-pitched alarm calls among the gathered songbirds.”
Yes, the chickadees, our most alert and noisy sentinels, were sounding the alarm.
Pretty bird, and distinctly different from the Cooper’s hawk I spotted last week watching my feeders.
Amy's Bird Blog 