A week ago, I watched two Red-tailed Hawks watching my yard over the course of a morning. I wished they’d taken out a couple of the interloper doves or some pesky, feeder-destroying squirrels, but no such luck.
Saturday, from my kitchen window, I watched a Sharp-shinned Hawk pluck and eat a meal in a nearby tree. When it was finished, it wiped its beak several times on various limbs and finally flew off. I suppose the whole meal took 20 minutes to finish. Yesterday I noticed a lone Evening Grosbeak in my yard…all the other birds had suddenly disappeared…again. This bird was standing stock still in the snow; pretty fluffed up, head pointed to the sky and a trail of clear liquid dripped from its beak and froze in a long line down its breast. Clearly it was in distress. Watching more closely, I noticed it was seriously injured and showed a pretty good swath of skin opened up on one side, but it didn’t appear to be bleeding. After another few moments, it began to pluck at the snow, and eventually began to eat a few seeds. It moved while I wasn’t looking, but just a few feet… I considered capturing it many times, but I realized it would not live after whatever attacked it. I looked several times for a small raptor in the trees…watching. Perhaps half an hour later, I found it again, on the other side of my yard, near another feeder. It had climbed up a small, leafless shrub and sat, facing the sun…wobbling a bit. When my neighbor came over a later, we were sitting at my kitchen window when (sans glasses) I realized there was too much movement under that bush…and the bird was gone. We picked up the bins and watched an American kestrel dispatch the Grosbeak tossing feathers like New Year’s confetti. Eventually it began its meal, watching us and everything around it. It was somewhat protected by a couple small bushes, but as they had no leaves…hidden was not something it enjoyed. Eventually, my (very large) dog walked directly under the window to come see us inside…and the Kestrel picked up its dinner and flew up high into a nearby tree to finish without an audience. Feeding songbirds will attract all manner of other critters, from mice to squirrels to cats, skunks, foxes and birds of prey. Eventually they all come…to eat. I feel blessed to watch nature in action. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
