Birdland…
Yet another family of birds have ‘flown the coop’. It was the sweetest thing. We got up this morning and I notice K veering off to the right to open the front door. All the sudden I hear “I knew it, I knew it!! They’re gone.” Sure enough, his last family of birds nested under his porch had finally all spread their wings and left. We were wondering how much bigger the babies could get… it was comical to still refer to them as ‘babies’. They had gotten so big that only about two of the four could fit in the nest at one time. They sat up there looking like big lugs – baby birds on steriods. K could barely get out the front door anymore for anything since the mama and daddy birds were in instant protect mode of their ready-to-fly-at-any-given-moment babies.
We’ve stood here and watched bird after bird go for a drink in the birdbath. He decided it needed some clean water – the birds are now having a bird field day. 🙂
Nature is so cool… yet often sad, and always unforgiving. We were talking about it last night and he told me a story of how he recently witnessed a hawk swoop down and score a dove, carrying it off in it’s huge beak. Many birds of different species tried to come to it’s rescue, in vain. The Hawk only needs one split second to complete it’s task. In this case and most others, it got it’s prey. I was told there are still a bunch of feathers were the ‘incident’ happened.
Here’s a link I’d like to share on yet another woe of Nature. This is a bit graphic at the end, and throughout the 4 minutes can really get your heart pumping, but I promise you won’t be sorry you watched it. 🙂
Peace.
Life of Bon 
I too am a birdwatcher and amateur ornithologist. During my 10 year residence in Idaho Falls, Idaho we did a lot of backyard bird watching. I never used a birdbath before; just a birdfeeder and for a short time a suet feeder. Not only did we get birds that dropped in to eat, we had a nest of barn swallows residing on top of one of the outdoor porch lights.
One winter, we had a 6-8 foot Christmas tree and kept it outside in our backyard for a few years. A lot of House Sparrows made that used tree their home. One afternoon, I was looking through my bedroom window and saw a small hawk dive into that tree out of nowhere. I could hear a lot of commotion going on inside that tree. A couple of minutes later, the bird of prey came out and had a House Sparrow in its talons and took off.
June 24, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Wow, I’ve been privy to a hawk carrying off it’s prey too Joel – and although I realize it’s nature, it never ceases to upset me. That’s nature though, often sad.
June 24, 2010 at 7:11 pm