A squirrel climbed up a crabapple tree in my backyard this morning and started making an alarm call. Within a minute, a grackle came and landed near the squirrel, but slightly above, and was looking down and then started adding to the alarm. I assumed it was one of my neighbors wandering cats as I see birds often mob when one comes by. I've seen a squirrel do this by itself, but this is the first time I saw a squirrel do it with birds! Then two more grackles came. They were triangulating the target of their wrath! Then came a mourning dove who just watched and then I think I heard a blue jay. My memory fades at this point, as everyone left shortly after as the threat probably went in another direction.
Shortly thereafter, I heard my first Baltimore Oriole of the year. It was dining in the crabapple. *S.L. Wold, author/originator/publisher of the Cayuga Basin Bioregion Map* *https://www.sites.google.com/site/cayugabioregionmap/ <https://www.sites.google.com/site/cayugabioregionmap/>* *http://www.sandy-wold.com/about <http://www.sandy-wold.com/about> * -- 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/ --