[cayugabirds-l] Piebald Cardinal

This poor guy was in the yard perhaps after black caps. Did a double take cause he was really red with a bright red beak. But no feathers on his head, no crest! apparently his skin is very dark because he presented basically a black head and red everything else. I'm curious what might cause

[cayugabirds-l] Swallows mobbing raptor

So I go outside to get some parsley out of the garden and am suddenly met with the "squeaky" calls of birds and look up to see close to 20 tree swallows mobbing a sharp shin hawk! The hawk flushes and the swallows give chase and the raptor lands in another tree. The swallows are going crazy and

[cayugabirds-l] Swallows mobbing a raptor

So I go outside to get some parsley out of the garden and am suddenly met with the "squeaky" calls of birds and look up to see close to 20 tree swallows mobbing a sharp shin hawk! The hawk flushes and the swallows give chase and the raptor lands in another tree. The swallows are going crazy and