Big and Little

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Tina

It’s always a pleasure to spot an unusual bird in the garden. Recently, I spied this tiny cutie, as it flitted and flashed between shrubs and trees, remaining immobile for only brief periods.

Though a rare sighting in my garden, this Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea, isn’t out of its normal range. My garden sits in the orange area (breeding range), near the border with the purple (year-round range) area in Cornell’s map of gnatcatcher range.

I’ve seen gnatcatchers in the garden on two other occasions, years apart. Maybe they’re in my garden more than I realize or observe, as they’re tricky to identify, being diminutive speed demons, hiding in the bramble of bushes.

This one was on a rapid-fire feeding frenzy, zipping from shrub to shrub to tree, looking for insects and spiders, the gnatcatchers’ main sources of food. It perched a few times in my Red Bud tree, just long enough for me to say ‘hi’ and catch some shots of the catcher.

My last sighting was this aerodynamic pose in the second before the teeny gnatcatcher belted away, no doubt in pursuit of a yummy munchie.

The gnatcatcher is a little bird, but big birds are also around, and they’re usually predators hunting for prey. If you’re squeamish about seeing a predator with its prey, you’ll want to move on to your next gardening blog or bit of political news.

This handsome juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii, was upsetting the Blue Jays and a bunch of other birds as it sat in my SIL’s garden early one morning. I snapped a couple of photos just before it flew off, but didn’t see it clutching its breakfast, an unlucky White-wing Dove, until I downloaded my photos.

Bird breeding season is just about completed; chicks have passed the fledgling stage and have matured to juveniles. Like this young hawk, they’re learning to fend for themselves. Next up in the backyard birding world is fall migration; it’s already started, but will peak in September/October. In my garden, I don’t see as many migratory birds in the fall as I do in spring, but maybe this year will be different. Either way, safe travels to the migrants and continued growth and learning for the neighborhood birds.

Hawk on the Hunt

Posted on September 27, 2023 by Tina

With a fortuitous glance out the window, I saw a Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii, glide to and perch on our swing beam.

Typically hunters of other birds rather than rodents, the only potential prey that I noticed were a couple of Grey Squirrels running atop the wooden fence behind the swing beam as the hawk landed, and who nearly tied themselves into a knot as they scrambled away from the hawk’s reach. That was a funny sight, but I can’t blame the squirrels for their caution!

There are several Cooper’s in our neighborhood and this time of year, I see at least one almost daily. I think this is a juvenile or young adult hawk, as its eyes are not the deep orange of an adult, but more golden colored. Also, it didn’t catch anything; young hawks have a steep learning curve.

Happy hunting handsome–there are more than enough doves.

Not a Worm

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Tina

You know what they say: The early bird gets the worm.

In this case, the early bird wasn’t the least bit interested in a worm, but instead chose dove or mockingbird as its breakfast of choice.

Just as it was light this morning, I spotted this juvenile male Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii, enjoying a meal atop the remains of my neighbor’s Arizona Ash tree. The tree was damaged during the February 2021 freeze, but retained some of its lower branches. The upper branches all died and were removed last summer. What remains are some well-utilized perches for a variety of birds, including this beauty.

It’s possible that the hawk caught its prey yesterday evening, ate some of it, and saved the rest to finish for breakfast. I know I like left over pizza for breakfast, though I’d probably pass on dove. To each their own.

As I watched the hawk, it fluttered from the highest perch, to the one just below. I’m not certain what the advantage of the lower perch presented, but the hawk stayed for a bit, flying off later to spend the day hunting.

Observe that the outer bark of the tree is pulling away from the main wood. All of the trees damaged in that devastating freeze have similar shedding of of bark, some are larger pieces like this, some smaller. The birds don’t mind, though; it’s been fun to see the variety of birds making use of these large limbs. Everything from this big hawk to tiny hummingbirds perch on various parts of these limbs. I just have to remember to notice.