Preditors and identification...

So, I was out watching the rosies, when they all scattered. Did you know they fly in waves and patterns like starlings? Yup, though I didn't see much of that when they fly to cover. A big bird had come to check out all the activity.

I was on the phone at the time and saw the huge, dark thing in a big tree over-looking my yard. The raptors love that tree this time of year. Talking with my friend Donna, she walked me through what big guys would be here this time of year, I decided it had to be a very dark morph Red-tailed Hawk. What do you think? For some idea of size...I'll include nearly the whole tree as I see it without lenses; those are the rosies in the same tree on the left. Cheeky things, huh?

The point is, I saw no red in this bird...but through the process of elimination (which big raptors might I see where I live, this time of year), I'm thinking a dark red-tailed.

I have to tell you, I use about a ten year old PowerShot G3 by Canon. It's only 4.0 MP, F2.0 little thing, so even with my 'long lens' (and I use that term with a smile...it's a 2X digital zoom!). No, I don't see much. LOL Hey, it was the best I could get at the time; who knew I'd become a bird watcher?

At any rate, I also got a shot the same day of a
young accipiter.I get both Sharp-shinned Hawks and the occasional Cooper's Hawk; but they are so hard to tell apart...especially with my inability to get a decent photograph. Most of us decided this bulky bird is a Cooper's...but then I measured the fence. It's pickets are 3.5" wide (if I remember now), but the important thing is to know I measured from the top to the nails, where you can see the bleed in the wood. That was just about 11" even.

I'll include both versions of my (bad) shot to show you how I measured the bird. Using PhotoShop, I carefully selected the whole bird, head to tail, and moved the selection down so the top of the head was even with the pickets. I now see the bird is about 12" in length...which makes it a Sharpie or a small Cooper's. Cool, huh?

What say you?

In Like a Lion

Well, spring has sprung and its pull is strongly felt by me; I want to play outside. I got to do so, for a bit yesterday…it was sunny and almost warm here in my little mountain community.

A friend told me at this time of year she feels a religious excitement and emotional uplifting with her church’s activities during this Easter week. She thought perhaps I would not understand it, but I see a correlation between this time and the renewal that Spring brings; something not lost, I’m sure, by the churches of ancient times interested in enrolling pagans into their way of thinking. It is an exciting and uplifting time; buds are swelling on trees and shrubs, bright red, asparagus-looking Peony sprouts are pushing up through the tattered, brown leaves of last year.
I wandered around and checked the grass seed I’d spread across my lawn a week ago, hoping to shore up thin spots before more weeds take hold; it looks like the ravenous blackbirds prefer the sunflower-seeds and chipped corn I put out to distract them. I found several cold-hardy Oriental Poppies already thick and green with fuzzy, serrated leaves clumped several inches tall; and the Sedum, called Dragon’s Blood, which I stuck around the edges and corners of a dry bed are already coming in shockingly pink and vibrant.

I am ready to get dirty…but the pile of old horse manure another friend gave me last year is still frozen; I cannot even pull the already long, sharp, green blades of Bermuda-grass that encroach the double-dug circles I where planted new shrubs and small trees at the far reaches of my yard.
The muddy earth is still frozen just below the surface and the sunny day was just one of the teasing-rituals my ‘church’ offers up this time of year that plunks the strings of my heart and wells up excitement and yearning to be outside again. I am well rested and looking forward to gardening.

Suddenly, every bird in my yard disappears…so I looked around and found a regular visitor; what I believe is a red-tailed hawk who hunts here. [a couple years later, I now believe that is probably a Swainson's Hawk.] The big birds, owls and eagles, like to land in the very tall willow trees and cottonwoods that edge the river near which I live. For some scale, this hawk is perched half-way up a 100' tree, maybe 75' from where I was standing. Someday I’ll get a good photograph of this beautiful bird.

For about a week I have not seen the Rosy-finches or Evening Grosbeaks that were regularly stopping at my feeders this winter. It seems that as the weather warms, they come less and less often; suddenly appearing only if it snows. Sure enough, after yesterday’s taste of spring, I awoke to a couple inches of snow…and a couple of these bigger finches, but the lions-grip of winter is not yet over. Still, it felt like an Easter treat and brought a big, warm smile.

Spring can’t be far!

This morning, while getting ready for work, I heard the woodpeckers drumming for the first time this year (though several regularly visit my feeders) and geese honking overhead again, too. I missed seeing them, but I wonder if I didn’t hear the Sandhill Cranes, the other day, too; they sound like a flock of chickens overhead! When I heard the local Ravens meeting in their tree, I didn’t think much of it. They have their tree; there is another around the corner where the vultures roost later in the year. It seems as many as 15 or 20 Ravens regularly meet in a big tree to the west of my yard, but this morning they were exceptionally loud. It occurred to me they might be mobbing another bird and went out and saw the first Great Horned Owl in my yard! I love those big things…and hear them regularly at night. It was way cool to finally see one…and so big…had to be a female; awesome, in spite of the fact that there wasn’t a little bird in site at my feeders. LOL

On a sadder note, while looking for a good link regarding the Sandhill Cranes, I came upon this article:

New homes threaten sandhill cranes
12:54 PM CST on Sunday, February 17, 2008
by Sara McDonald / The Daily News

LEAGUE CITY — Every year, just as the Texas heat begins to simmer down, Kim Rouse and her family wait to hear the familiar, throaty squawk.

Up in the sky, tiny gray dots spiral down until she can see the long necks, wobbly bodies and narrow, pointy beaks.

The sandhill cranes are back for another season, ready to roost in the marshy, open field along the interstate.

Now, with just a few weeks left until the peculiar birds head north for the summer, Rouse is preparing to say her last goodbye.

Next year, the field where the flock has congregated will look like the land around it — more houses, backyards and subdivision streets. Work has started on the Sedona subdivision — a neighborhood with 221 homes on expansive 10,000-foot lots.

The homes will occupy the 70 acres south of League City Parkway and west of Butler Road where the long-necked birds roost.

Complete article: http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou080217_tnt_cranes.4c0221.html

I much prefer what Colorado was able to pull off; behold the birth of a new National Park: The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. One of the best parts is it’s located just about an hour from my home!

Yesterday I saw my first American Robin here this year. I’ve seen them in Walsenburg for a month now, but only just heard them here last evening. Their song is so distinctive; I had to go looking for them specifically…just to see if I ‘knew what I heard’.

A couple Evening Grosbeaks visited again. A book I borrowed from the library finally confirmed the ‘greenish bill’. An Audubon Handbook of Western Birds by John Farrand, Jr. put it in writing.

I’ve been spending a lazy day today in front of the window; watching birds. I believe I have Savannah Sparrows here, as well as a rather shy House Sparrow that grabs and darts food much like a Chickadee. The pink-butts, as I call the Rosy Finches are not around today, but the Cassin’s and House Finches continue to come every day, all day….just like the Juncos, Pine Siskins, Goldfinches and Woodpeckers…oh and the Eurasian Doves.

I thought it odd when I noticed a dark lump in the trees and with the binoculars discovered a Red Tailed Hawk in the yard next door. I watched it for about five minutes, but all the little birds didn’t seem to mind it being there. Perhaps it is more interested in squirrels and rabbits than small birds? Funny, I’m trying to teach myself how to take mental field notes when I watch a bird. Watching this one, I discovered they ‘projectile poop’! Who knew!

One last thing. The other day I noticed a blackbird type bird; same size as a Red-Winged Blackbird or a Yellow-Headed Blackbird…but without those color markings. This one had a thin, white shoulder line and I could swear I saw the tiniest bit of red when it took flight. I’ve never even heard of a Tri-Colored Blackbird, but saw on Bill Schmoker’s photo collection (You'll find his Tri-Colored Blackbird in the Dickcissel & Blackbird album). THAT was the bird. Since then, I’ve been told the bird has never been seen in Colorado; that I must have seen a Red-wing. Do they sometimes come with so little red I almost missed it…or with the conspicuous white shoulder markings on an otherwise black bird? Here are some lovely photos of what I believe I saw...the second page shows the way the red shows-up when it opens it's wings. I saw absolutely no yellow. I borrowed the books to check it out. The only other bird I could imagine it might have been is a Lark Bunting…but with hardly any white on it at all; just a thin patch on the front of the shoulder. As the one who called me on my probable miss-identification...birds don't always follow what the guide-books suggest! LOL What I need is a birding pal!