Blessed with a feathered visitor

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G

geebee

I was doing dishes today and looked outside and was thrilled to see this visitor in the tree. I am pretty sure it is a young Red Shoulder Hawk. We have seen it in the trees around the perimeter of our property but this is the closet I have seen it to the house. I am sure it is hungry but I am also sure I probably shouldn't feed it not that I would know what to feed anyway.

Just wanted to share my good fortune with you all.
 
hensylee said:
hawks are a protected species in our world and we aren't sposed to feed them anything -
Click to expand...
Well, it seems to be hanging around the wild bird feeder in the yard so maybe I am actually "feeding" it the smaller birds that eat at the feeder. I feel a bit guilty about the smaller birds (assuming that is what is happening) but I feel so priveledged to have this beautiful bird around. I guess it would just catch the birds somewhere else so........ We also have a lot of squirrels, chipmonks, rabbits, moles, etc. on the property so he has a lot to choose from although the cold has kept a lot of the critters in their homes.
 
I found this picture on a website and I am amazed at how much they look alike. I guess it makes it easier to identify this way. Of course, this professional photo is a little better than the one I took through the window glass.;) :D
 
I like YOUR picture much better! :D He's gorgeous!!

Last spring when I was first recovering I spent a lot of time out on our 2nd story back deck. The spring sun was so warm and nice. We have several small stands of very tall Douglas Firs in the little neighborhood woods behind us and we have hawks swooping around frequently. I saw the top of one of those tall trees arch abit and noticed 2 blobs up top. I ran and got my paltry telephoto, set it up as quickly as I could, aimed and shot about 5 shots. I couldn't believe he actually turned around so nicely for me before he swooped off. The second bird was already gone.

Don't worry about the little birds, Gina. It is what it is!

Thanks for sharing.

Marguerite
 
geebee said:
We also have a lot of squirrels, chipmonks, rabbits, moles, etc. on the property so he has a lot to choose from although the cold has kept a lot of the critters in their homes.
Click to expand...

Right there is why he's there. He's got a feast to choose from in your yard. I watched one awhile back come out of no where and grab a rabbit out of our yard.

Makes me afraid to let the cat out when he's around. He struggled a bit to stay airborne with the rabbit, but he did stay airborne.
 
Ross said:
Right there is why he's there. He's got a feast to choose from in your yard. I watched one awhile back come out of no where and grab a rabbit out of our yard.

Makes me afraid to let the cat out when he's around. He struggled a bit to stay airborne with the rabbit, but he did stay airborne.
Click to expand...

We lose our neighborhood cats to coyotes!! :eek: Too much development has disrupted their habitat.

Gosh, Ross. In all my sightings, I've never ever seen one land its prey. Too much woods, not enough open space. They are magnificently endowed with their strong talons, eh?

:) Marguerite
 
This rabbit was sitting right in the middle of our back yard. Granted, there are large trees to obstruct your view, but I'll be darned if that hawk didn't come out of no where and pounce on that rabbit.
 
We had a red tailed hawk flying through the neighborhood a few years ago, carrying a squirrel (or as my dogs call them, the tree rats). Funny, there were several other birds chasing him harassing him (or her, I guess) and the hawk ended up dropping the squirrel.
 
Curious Facts

Hawks are carnivores (meat eaters) who belong to the category of birds known as raptors.

The Red-tailed Hawk is the most common member of the buzzard hawk family.

The eyesight of a hawk is 8 times as powerful as a human's.

Like all hawks, the Red-tailed Hawk's talons are its main weapons.

The Red-tailed Hawk has hoarse and rasping 2- to3-second scream that is most commonly heard while soaring.

85 to 90 % of the Red-tailed Hawk's diet is composed of small rodents.


Its diet is varied, but there is conclusive evidence now that 85 to 90 % is composed of small rodents, with rabbits, snakes and lizards included. Where there are large numbers of pheasant, these become the food of choice in spring and summer. Like all hawks, its talons are its main weapons.
 
Marguerite53 said:
We lose our neighborhood cats to coyotes!! :eek: Too much development has disrupted their habitat.

Gosh, Ross. In all my sightings, I've never ever seen one land its prey. Too much woods, not enough open space. They are magnificently endowed with their strong talons, eh?

:) Marguerite
Click to expand...

Disrupted habitat has nothing to do with it around here. You can walk thru the woods behind our house for over 6 miles due West before running into another house (although I prefer riding a 4 wheeler). Cats are snack food to a Coyote. Why spend days following a doe with a fawn when you can have easy pickings. :p

As for the hawk and its prey. The folks we bought our house from had ducks, chickens, turkey, and even several geese (good watch birds by the way). They eventually disappeared to the wildlife around here. One duck had the misfortune of attracting a hawk. The poor hawk found out the duck was too heavy to fly off with. He also wasn't able to get his talons out of the duck and was stuck. As it is against the law I won't tell you what my Paw-in-law did to help the hawk out. But needless to say the cats had a double meal that night. :eek: :rolleyes:

Around here the hawks hunt the highways. You see them all the time on the electrical lines waiting for a meal. Unfortunately, they sometimes decide to swoop down for their meal in front of a vehicle. I had one put a good sized dent in my delivery truck one evening. :eek: :eek:

May God Bless

Danny :)
 
gadgetman said:
Around here the hawks hunt the highways. You see them all the time on the electrical lines waiting for a meal. Unfortunately, they sometimes decide to swoop down for their meal in front of a vehicle. I had one put a good sized dent in my delivery truck one evening. :eek: :eek:

May God Bless

Danny :)
Click to expand...


When you drive from Portland, south on I-5 (which runs N/S the entire west coast) pretty much to the California border, the hawks will be just sitting on the fenceposts along the way (many farms line the freeway). We've often made contests amongst our 3 kids as to who could spot a hawk first, or who could silently count up the most in an hour's time. Still.....I've never seen one go after anything! Darn!

Danny, you have 6 miles of woods, I have barely 60 feet!! :p

:) Marguerite
 
Cool Sighting

Cool Sighting

and cool pic! I grew up loving birds, and still like to spend time birding. Don't get the chance to go for many walks these days. Thanks for sharing your wonderful sighting Gina! Brian
 
Birds:

Birds:

Here in the mountains we have eagles (mostly golden eagles), ravens-one of my favorites, and vultures. But I think the most striking bird is the wild turkey. You never see them flying. They love to walk around in flocks. They have a very distintive walk-kind of like Groucho Marx walking with his hands behind his back. Turkeys are very wary, and I have never had a camera ready when I have seen them.
 
Dennis,

When I was moving back to Ohio from Los Angeles, I took a couple of weeks traveling the country. I stopped at the Petrified Forest in Arizona. One of the parking lots was full of ravens that were rather brazen. Some of them actually scared me as they walked right up looking for food. Their beaks look very dangerous up that close. Despite my concern, I was still able to appreciate them. They are also very vocal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top