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Posts Tagged ‘birds of prey’

WHO? WHO? WHO?

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , on February 3, 2014| 13 Comments »

“A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.” – Ernest Hemingway.

This is Gandolf, a great horned owl that my son, Lewis, and I discovered on the side of a road on the Texas Gulf Coast. He was in shock, probably after being struck by a passing vehicle. My son and I suspected. We got him to a wildlife rehabilitator, who dubbed him Gandolf. Three weeks later he was well and released back into the wild. -- Photo by Pat Bean.

This is Gandolf, a great horned owl that my son, Lewis, and I discovered on the side of a road on the Texas Gulf Coast. He was in shock, probably after being struck by a passing vehicle, my son and I suspected. We got him to a wildlife rehabilitator, who dubbed him Gandolf. Three weeks later he was well and released back into the wild. — Photo by Pat Bean.

A Great Horned Owl, That’s Who

            I’m not sure I understand Hemingway’s words. But they’re fun to ponder.

I made this card for a grandson's graduation. It tickles my fancy.

I made this card for a grandson’s graduation. I guess I have owls on the brain, but they tickle my fancy.

Just as it’s been fun to ponder  the great horned owl, whose  hooting has been taunting me awake each morning, and serenading me to sleep each night, for the past two weeks.

The hooter has annoyingly been avoiding my sight, but I finally caught a glimpse of it two days ago from my third-floor balcony window. The owl was sitting, just above my eye level, in a tree about 30 feet away.

Then, early yesterday morning, as I was once again looking for the owner of the hoots coming from the trees, a great horned owl flew directly over my head, wings stretched out like a sheltering canvas. It was big, and it landed on the roof top of an adjacent apartment building.

And this is one of my great horned owl doodles. I did it from memory after the Gandolf incident.

And this is one of my great horned owl doodles. I did it from memory after the Gandolf incident.

Pepper, whom I was walking at the time, and I wandered closer, and the owl briefly looked down on us with its great golden eyes. I was mesmerized, but glad that my canine companion was standing close. This was a mighty big owl, much larger, I realized than the one that I had seen a few days before from my balcony.

A surge of joy, like a big yippee, went through my bones. I suspected my apartment complex was now home to a mating pair of owls. The one I was looking at had to be the female, who is always larger than her male mate.

The big owl didn’t linger, but quickly disappeared beyond the roof line, leaving me pondering where her nest was, and did it already contain eggs. I’m sure I’ll be looking for it every time Pepper and I go walking during February.

The Wondering-Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Texas Tweeties http://tinyurl.com/mgovo9e Bringing home dinner. Bob’s one of my favorite bloggers. I’ve been privileged to see an osprey spring from the Snake River, and from a couple of lakes, with a fish in its talons, but it’s a sight worth seeing over and over again.

 

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This Bird’s Not a Wizard

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , , on September 30, 2013| 4 Comments »

 

This great photo of a Merlin in pursuit of a blue jay was taken by John Harrison who put it up on Wikimedia. You can see his photos at: http://flickr.com/photos/15512543@N04/

This great photo of a Merlin in pursuit of a blue jay was taken by John Harrison who put it up on Wikimedia.

 

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Yet I Think It’s Magical

I had been seeing this dark bird shape flash overhead for several days, but hadn’t got a good enough look to identify it. Solving the mystery of what bird I’m observing is part of my bird-watching passion.

A close up look at a merlin. -- Wikimedia photo

A close up look at a merlin. — Wikimedia photo

It was mourning dove size, but it flew nothing like a dove. I thought it flew like a hawk but it was too small for the Cooper’s hawks that have been keeping the apartment complex company all year.

The brief glimpses I had of the bird were tantalizingly frustrating. It would fly overhead past me, and by the time I looked up after seeing its shadow, it had disappeared into the trees.

Merlins, before they grew up and became majestic birds of prey. -- Wikimedia photo

Merlins, before they grew up and became majestic birds of prey. — Wikimedia photo

Finally a few mornings ago, as I sat drinking my cream-laced coffee and watching dawn break, I identified it as a merlin. It whizzed past my third floor balcony at eye level, probably after one of the small song birds that had been flitting around waiting to catch the morning sun, too.

Merlins are not year-round residents of the Tucson area, but they do migrate through and winter here, according to my birding field guide. Since I haven’t seen the merlin in the past couple of days, and since it’s not yet winter, I suspect it was just passing through on its way farther south.

With all the small birds around the complex, it probably decided this was a good place to fuel up. Merlins, according to Cornell University’s ornithological web site, rely on speed and agility to hunt their prey. The merlins often hunt by flying fast and low, using trees and large shrubs to take prey by surprise. While they actually capture most birds in flight, they will also tail-chase a bird to catch it.

. While not a lifer, I’ve only been able to identify this member of the falcon family a few times. But bird experts say the merlin is becoming more numerous in urban areas, so perhaps there are more “magical” merlin sightings in my future.

The Wondering-Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Ian Butler Photographer http://tinyurl.com/ledqorr Great photo of a dunlin for all you birders out there.

 

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Cooper’s Hawks

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Journeys, tagged , , , on July 8, 2013| 11 Comments »

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” Anais Nin

One of the pair of Cooper's hawks flying around the apartment complex earlier this year. -- Photo by Pat Bean

One of the pair of Cooper’s hawks flying around the apartment complex earlier this year. — Photo by Pat Bean

First the Lovers, Then the Juveniles

            Earlier this year, I blogged about seeing a pair of Cooper’s hawks that appeared to be courting. For the past week, the results of that courtship have been entrancing residents. The hawks built a nest in a tall tree visible from my bedroom balcony and raised two young in it

And a quick sketch of one of the less-colorful juveniles now flying around my apartment complex. -- Pat Bean sketch

And a quick sketch of one of the less-colorful juveniles now flying around my apartment complex. — Pat Bean sketch

Those two juveniles have now fledged, and are so much less wary of we humans than their parents that I’ve been seeing them daily for over a week.  A few days ago, I actually saw one of the birds dehead a songbird in the air.

The luckless songbird’s body fell near where Pepper and I were walking. The hawk watched as we passed by.  I hoped that it retrieve its meal, as it would have been a shame for the songbird’s death not to have served a purpose.

As one who is an avid nature watcher, I’ve learned to accept the circle of life, which puts hawks at the top of the bird food chain. While many small birds can produce up to three large broods of chicks annually, hawks rarely raise more than one or two each year.

House wrens, for example, can go from egg to fledging in less than a month. Cooper’s Hawks’ eggs take over twice that time, and larger birds of prey, like the bald eagle, require more than four months to develop from an egg to a fledgling. And the parent will continue to feed it long after that.

I’m thankful that I still view birds, and all the rest of nature, with the wonder of a child, but also with the awe of learning the details of how everything fits into the environment.

Bean’s Pat: Discovering Myself http://tinyurl.com/mfhqdro Yes, yes and yes!

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