I know it's been a while since I last posted. There are a myriad of reasons for the temporary hiatus: ACL music festival last weekend, getting work done for classes, registering voters, and so on. In an attempt to make up for the time off, I humbly offer you this:
I'm going to try to return somewhat to the original style of The Left Wing, with fewer pictures and more first-person narrative.
More below the fold.
Birds of prey have always fascinated me. Having grown up in Florida, I never really saw many. I still don't see them as often as I do chickadees or cardinals, so they retain a certain mysteriousness for me.
I have a little more contact with raptors now. Nothing like lineatus does with catching and banding them, but every once in a while I'll be able to get close enough to a hawk to really watch its behaviour.
Like the Kestrel who sits on the highest tree in the greenbelt next to the house, just sitting and watching.
(This isn't him, just a random Kestrel perched on a telephone wire.)
My favourite raptor encounter involved a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. He perched on our fence and watched the feeder intently. A house finch had recently died flying into the windows, so when the hawk flew off, we placed its tiny body on the deck railing for sky burial (I know this sounds horrible, but letting it go to waste would have been even worse, so we decided we might as well give him to the hawk). We waited, watching intently for the hawk to return. Soon, our patience was rewarded, and the juvenile Cooper's Hawk returned for a meal. He grabbed the finch with his talons, and glided down to the ground to eat at his leisure. For fifteen minutes we watched with morbid fascination as the hawk ripped apart the tiny carcass. When the hawk was done feeding, he flew off and we never saw him again.
I don't have any pictures of him eating our little offering, but here's a pic of him perched on the fence.
For more birding fix, look for Dawn Chorus on Saturday mornings, hosted by lineatus. Also look for "Photo Breaks" from juliewolf throughout the week.
Also, plf515 has a meta series called Daily Kos University, where he (/she?) links to all the "teaching" diaries from the week. And Translator will be answering any and all questions (without reference!) at around 7:00 in "Tweak the Geek" (formerly "Outwit the Nitwit", formerly "Stump the Chump") Check it out!
As usual, The Left Wing is sort of an avian open thread. Feel free to share any bird (or any critter) pictures/stories, whether they're from the other side of the world, or from your own backyard.