2026, animals, home, Nature, Uncategorized

Hawk!

31 Comments

Husband has installed five bird feeders just adjacent to our deck. He tries to entice fiches, cardinals, juncos, and other smallish birds. Late last week he exchanged one feeder that seemed to be too squirrel friendly, since the backyard furry thieves were emptying it daily. The dog is disappointed since he loved chasing the squirrels off the deck.

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen the little birds suddenly take flight from the feeders en masse, and the silhouette of a much larger bird flying over or else perching on the new fence. I finally got a good look at it, and it seems to be this one:

It was blue-grey with a pink breast. We determined it was a Coopers Hawk. I finally got a closeup view as it was standing in the yard devouring a small bird. The little birds eventually all return, especially when it is sunny..

There are hawks and other large birds here we didn’t see often in ND. It has been fun to try to identify them. There is at least one Bald Eagle that flies over our neighborhood. We also saw some ravens. I also think we saw a snowy owl fly out of a ditch as we were coming back from Sioux Falls.

What is the rarest bird you ever saw in the Great Outdoors? What are your favorite wild birds?

31 thoughts on “Hawk!”

  1. i love seeing the eagles. i recognize their wing flap from a distance. it is a lift when i see one.
    i just worked my way up the list at the library to get amy tans recent publication on birdwatching during the pandemic and how she feeds the ones she wants and not the orhers and how she draws them for pleasure. i listened to it on the audio version and enjoyed it a couple months ago and reupped and got in line to renew. i ordered it online but havnt had time to do more than scan it. the drawings are great. i look forward to the goldfinches turning gold again come spring but enjoy the winter visitors also. i dont look up the birds i see but i remember a hawk terrorize the backyard regulars a few years ago. nature can be hard to watch. i give up on squirrel repellent . buying seed is not too expensive yet. nala is too old to chase squirrels. she and vinny had that as a primary activity for years. now shes a passive observer. the squirrels know they have a free ride unless they eat at the feeders on the deck while shes out. that covers about 5 minutes a day these days.
    what did you do for a fence?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  2. First time I ever cared about who won the Super Bowl and my team won. Woo hoo. And it does sound like from descriptions that I should’ve watched the second half of the halftime program instead of the first half!!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Ten+ years ago, I was wowed when two Trumpeter swans gave me a close flyover in the Boundary Waters. I’d never seen one before. Now they are commonplace. I see at least a few on almost every trip up there.

    It used to be that way with bald eagles when I was a kid, but now we almost have a “neighborhood” bird. I still enjoy seeing them, but it’s not as jaw-dropping as it used to be.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. Yep, I know the first time I saw a turkey I didn’t know what the heck it was. That was probably 25 or 30 years ago?
      The local pheasants forever club takes credit for bringing them back.
      As I’m always saying, there are too many deer and now there are too many turkeys and I lose a lot of money to the wildlife.

      I would like it a lot better if there was a little less. Less coyotes, less deer, less raccoons, less turkeys.

      And I know everything needs to balance out so I don’t know what we need to make a harmonious balance of the wildlife.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. I make an annual trip into Wisconsin once a year to see tundra swans migrating through. It was once possible to see and hear large flocks on Rieck’s Lake in early November. Over the years the populations on the lake have declined, but it’s still possible to spot a few of them.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Saturday following puppy training I drove home near the Minneapolis VA. Two very large, wild turkeys sauntered out into the street in front of my car, where they stood just looking at me. Finally, they moved on.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Rise and shine baboons,

    One of the most enjoyable things about the last 30 to 40 years is the return of a wide variety of birds. I also enjoy many of the birds mentioned above. This last year we had the pure delight of watching our neighbors, bluebird box which produced two nests and endless entertainment, including flight school. I have also seen indigo buntings in our yard and sitting on our deck, but that is rare. Years ago when we were biking with our then teenage children Lanesboro, Minnesota, we saw an entire flock of indigo buntings resting in a oak tree. It was a stunning site.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  10. We had quite a good bird feeding station in Robbinsdale, that had plenty of shelter if hawks etc. flew over.. I did see an indigo bunting once, a white throated sparrow… both in migration. Loved listening for that sparrow’s song.

    Here I have no space that’s safe enough, but there’s quite an active birders’ club.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

        2. The Rock River is .25 miles from our house, and flows right through town. The Big Sioux is 17 miles west. Lake Benton is about 60 miles. The gravel pits are just south of town on Highway 75. A pit called “The Lake” is in town on the west side.

          Liked by 1 person

  12. BAld eagles live nearby and one time I discovered one eating one of my hens. Too close to me! But it quickly disappeared leaving my dead hen. and one year I had a Great Horn owl chasing a rooster in my horse barn. It had a small trap on one of its feet. Was not able to catch the rooster. I didn’t see it again until I found its body in the barn, caught by the trap to a shelf. So sad! Gave the body to the DNR.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. I remember seeing a Scarlett Tanager once. Sure would like to see them again.

    Bald eagles used to be such a big deal. Now they’re pretty common to see even around Rochester and I really appreciate that.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Leave a reply to Linda Cancel reply