Tuesday, February 14, 2006

When the Raptor Comes, This Birdhouse Will be Unmanned

Susan and I have a habit of feeding the various birds that frequent our back deck; since it's about fifteen feet about ground level and has no stairs to the lawn below, we rarely get cats on the deck, so the birds and the squirrels feel safe. Or at least, they used to. I noticed that the smaller critters started acting a little bit apprehensive a week or so ago; then I saw why. We had attracted a pair of hawks who were "setting up shop" in and around our deck. The blurry photo above is the best I could come up with; it depicts the smaller of the two hawks (the larger one is almost 50% larger than this beautiful bird of prey). They rarely land on the deck, but this one decided to settle in on the birdhouse for a few seconds. It's shot at an angle through the glass door to the back deck, which accounts for the general haziness, but at least it gives you some idea of the bird's majestic appearance.

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