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Discolor Online

Weblog of the sweetest person you never want to piss off.

 

Bird of Prey


Hawk 1
Originally uploaded by Nikchick.
I wasted a good half an hour this afternoon watching this beautiful bird of prey when I should have been preparing for my GenCon flight tonight.

Not sure what kind of bird of prey this is (Cooper's hawk maybe?) but he made a kill right outside my kitchen window and spent a long time toying with his prey on my fence before finally settling down to eat every last bit of the poor, unfortunate sparrow. The little bird wasn't dead at first and struggled for a while, ever more feebly.

When he was done eating, he hopped down into the brush, shielded by fences and trees, spreading his wings and fanning his tail, hunkered flat against the ground in a patch of sun. I couldn't get a good photo angle on that from the window but it was pretty spectacular.

Now to finish my last minute packing and arrange for my taxi. 12:55am flight with a connection in Minneapolis. Yuck.

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Starlings

Starlings are the most obnoxious birds! For the last week my back yard has been beset by a flock of immature starlings who have discovered my bird feeders. They flock in and take over the place, bickering and screeching and chasing off the other sparrows and chickadees (don't mess with my little chickadees, you bullies!) and anything else that might come to visit. They eat like pigs and fight amongst themselves and I can hear the constant noise building and building. When I can't take it anymore, I throw the door open and shoo them off. They fly only as far as the large tree two houses down, where they wait, stalking my yard until I go back inside.

There's a Northern Flicker that sometimes comes and crowds the little birds out of the feeder, but he's pretty to look at and doesn't scream and fight and make a ruckus. In fact, speak of the little devil, he's out there right now. He can come back anytime but I wish the starlings would get lost.

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