I think Liz Brown's observation of her goat and a raven interacting deserves an A+ rating too! Even tho she doesn't carry a camera while feeding the livestock.
Donna L. Scott Lansing From: bounce-118963948-15001...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-118963948-15001...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of John Confer Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2015 1:09 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Serendipitous raptor observations- long & rambling serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for, refers to the fairy tale characters who were always making discoveries through chance. Cayugabirds-l has carried two recent reports of serendipitous raptor observations. A+ ratings: Kevin McGowan posted photo-documentation of an immature Bald Eagle eating a rat observed near the game farm, an unprecedented observation. Diana Whiting posted intriguing photos of a fight between two adult Red-tailed Hawks (both in banders terminology being "after second year" birds) along Ledyard Rd. where a third bird seen moments earlier. Both instances involved going beyond just serendipity; putting oneself into the locations where the odds were better than average that some serendipitous wildlife event might occur, and even further, by giving attention to surrounding events, and by the Boy Scout prepardness of having camera gear at the ready and also the skill to use it. B- rating: I was coming home from a root canal job that cost $1160 (rest assured this is pre-insurance). Further, having fallen over the dog and into a wooden chair, which I knocked down onto the dog and, on which I landed while it was on the dog, which broke three of the dog's foot bones, which cost $341 so far (of course no insurance), and which led me to wrench my back, bruise my chest and scrape my side just two days earlier, I was not feeling good but was feeling sorry for myself, and being a little ahead of schedule, (well actually not having any schedule), I turned into the Mulholland Widlflower Trail parking space at Giles Street, which put me in a location where some serendipitous wildlife event might be observed. Now my wife and I buy an exorbitant amount of bird seed, sometimes 300 lb weekly throughout several winter months. This feeds chipmunks, red and gray squirrels, mice, Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves, and other raptor food items. This has led to hearing the piteous squeals of a dying prey as an accipiter plucks feathers on several occasions, a sound one is not likely to forget. Unfortunately, in the last two weeks my wife or I have scared an accipiter off a dying prey on two occasions thereby leaving the prey to die an even slower death and the hawk to go off to kill another bird or to starve. As I turned off WSKG, I heard the familiar dying squeals and looked out my window to try to locate the origin. So, I was paying attention and thereby, facilitating serendipity. Almost immediately a small accipiter flew up and landed nearly over the top of my car so that I had to bend forward and lower my head below the top of the steering wheel to see the hawk, which had no prey in its talons, almost over my head - sort of nice if my back hadn't been hurting. I was surprised to hear the continued squeals coming from the ground about 10 yards away. I located the area with stirring leaves, and watched as a Red-tailed Hawk flew up and landed on a fallen log with some bird in its talons, which it preceded to pluck, dismember, and eat. Unfortunately, and this is where Kevin and Diana leave me embarrassed, I didn't have any camera with me, but even worse, I didn't have any binoculars. Lacking any means to verify this story, my serendipitous moment rates only a B-. All I can do is provide a little word picture. You can guess, as well as I, what happened before I arrived. I guess that the most likely event was that the sharpie made a kill and the red-tail stole it. Further happy beginnings are imaginable. Cheers, John -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- 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/ --
