Hi, Birders,
Steve had posted that we had a large Cooper's Hawk in our backyard, 1 mile east of Brooktondale. A friend of ours had left us a chunk of deer carcass, set on top of the brush pile. Crows worked it over for a couple of days, eating, and hiding suet over in the field across the road. And then the hawk took over. Yesterday Steve watched her for over 3 hours (!) as she gorged on suet and meat, till her crop stuck way out and she was puffed out like a chicken! He noted when she cleaned her beak, and how she cleaned her talons, periodically. After feeding, she slipped back into the hemlocks behind the house. This morning, she returned, feeling more comfortable than yesterday. She sunned herself, and at one point lay down for a little rest, on the carcass. The feeder birds and squirrels went about their feeding as usual. About 1:00 PM, the resident Sharp-shinned Hawk shot through the yard. The little birds disappeared, and the CH sat straight up. In a few minutes a male N. Harrier floated low over the field, right over where the crows have been caching. I wondered whether the NH would eat suet as the CH has been doing. Meanwhile, the crows were flying about not happily. S & S Fast -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
