A wee blast of winter
Blizzard number two started last evening. Last weekend the snow was 24″ inches deep in my front yard. (60.96 centimeters) Todays blast is expected to add at least another ten inches snow. (25.4 centimeters) Wind gusts are expected in the thirty to fifty knot range.
This morning I startled a Coopers Hawk clutching a European Starling underneath one of my bird feeders. The Starling was screaming for dear life and the Coopers spooked as I trundled through the snow to my front door. This Coopers has taken quite a few birds at my feeders along with a neighbors. Usually it is a slow moving Mourning Dove. Last fall I shot video of the unfortunate demise of a Grackle by this Coopers.
Out my office door looking toward the deck.
Looking down my street.
The holly trees that flank my front door are zealously guarded by a male Mockingbird who chases off flocks of American Robins who attempt to eat “his” holly berries. I watched him chase off close to twenty robins yesterday. As soon as they would alight, he would swoop in to defend his property.
Loved your comments, especially regarding the Mockingbird guarding his holly berries.
What can be done to get rid of the Coopers? They sound horrible.
Your street looks like a scene from a fairy tale.
Beautiful photographs.
Danielle Davidson
11 Feb 10 at 12:16 am
Coopers Hawks are part of the natural world and deserve to live also. They serve a purpose of culling the weak.
Cameron Davidson
11 Feb 10 at 8:31 am