Posted on 01/04/2016 7:09:44 AM PST by bert
It is a peaceful view. The driveway sprinkled with bird seed has several birds scoffing up the freebies. There are two pairs of cardinal and several White throat sparrows pecking their way around.
One female cardinal is sort of in a huff and tries to intimidate the other female cardinal while the males watch from the bush.
The sparrows are indifferent and pay her no mind. The wren that actually lives here watches from ontop of the van tire.
Suddenly in less than the blink of an eye, it is all over. The blue gray blur strikes and captures the huffy female cardinal. It is a Kestrel. It just sits there grasping the prey and covering it with slightly out spread wings. It look around and then looks around some more.
I rush to the door and take two steps and swoosh...... it is gone. It did not release the meal, the meal was carried off
I suppose its called nature.....Happens here day in and day out.
No trauma here.....
You to alleviate your stress you may want to put those bird feeders aka hawk magnets under trees or some type of cover.
Kinda slows down that swooping ability they have for the purpose of eating small ground feeding birdies.
Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin to the female Cardinal. Also, to the United States...
Got 2 here and they make the rounds all day.....red squirrels and mouse eliminators....Love to watch the carnage
We discovered a sharp shinned hawk in our neighborhood this fall. It is amazing to see them drop from the sky in an instant. We saw a mourning dove suffer it’s fate in the driveway.
A barn swallow should be able to outfly a Kestrel,other birds don’t stand a chance.
I had a barn owl swoop down over my dog just checking him out. I walked around the corner of the house and almost collided with the thing.
I watched a small hawk swoop down among the doves feeding in my yard and he actually MISSED! All the doves scattered and the hawk sat there for a few seconds, collected himself, and then flew off. My yard is a veritable avian paradise with everything from Eagles to Ospreys to Hawks of all sizes. I even hear a stray Bobwhite call on occasion.
We have a plethora of raptors here.
Hawks, bald and golden eagles.
Had a fox try to attack one of my cats once...
The bears are asleep now and not bothering us.
The worst are the magpies who eat all of the other birds babies.
I aim to kill magpies...
Saw a bald eagle grab a dead woodchuck off the road last year.He was working like crazy to get airborne.
Buttons12!!! What a masterful phrase!!!!
Question for you.
We’ve got plenty of Red-Tailed Hawks, Crows & Ravens in my neck of the woods. During the summer months I often see a single blackbird chasing them and they seem to be running for their lives.
The blackbird is most likely protecting her nest, but wonder why don’t they just turn around and kick their butts since they are 10X their size.
Years ago I had a Great Horned Owl checking ME out when I was driving the John Deere.His talons completely cover the top of the telephone pole he was perched on.
Yeah, they do.
I heard the same thing as a kid and wondered how the raptor was suppose to know. Fact is they don't. They pick off the ones that they see and don't bother to ask for their medical papers.
All Gods children got to eat.
Kestrels have to eat, too.
I see that all the time too.I don’t know why the bigger bird doesn’t just turn around either.
We have Cooper’s hawks (aka chicken hawks) nesting near by. The accipter hawks are the ones who veer into trees after the birds, twisting and dodging branches. The Red-tailed hovers like a kite and drops like a stone on ground prey; the falcons will catch birds in the air; the harrier glides low over fields.
Not having any chickens to lose, I like our Cooper’s. The catbirds skulk instead of boldly feasting on the berries. And oddly enough, hummingbirds like to nest near Cooper’s nests. They are too small and perhaps too evasive for the hawks, and the hawks keep away mid-size predators on the hummingbirds.
LOL - JRT?
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