A hawking good tail

We've lots of hawks around. 

Juvenile sharp-shinned, I've been told. 

This one was eyeing #75's nest box. 

These three photos are from a company who goes around to festivals and fairs. Very educational.

kestrel

red-tailed hawk

This was from Bala, when we lived there.

This hawk hit the window in 2018. I am sure it was chasing a bird. 

hawk 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

rough-legged hawk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This broad-winged hawk came in a pair in summer. It hung around for a couple of days. 

It was screeching something in hawk-speak: 

 Why are these men on the roof? That was an adventure. They brought a hawk to scare away the gulls while they harvested the gull eggs to limit the gull population.

We had a hawk visit the feeder this week. I am giving up identifying hawks. Sharp-shinned, red-tailed, Cooper's,  or kestrel. We have a kestrel in the area. Birders with much more expertise have seen it around. I won't lead anyone astray! It was small, not as chubby as the mourning doves. 

It cleared the feeder. They slowly came back, first the chickadees. It was still sitting on the branch in the tree. I went out and it flew off at great speed. 

For more critters: Saturday's Critters # 637 visit Eileen!

We had visitors!

 I've been limited to the house, which is fine by me, but we were going to look for a new countertop and taps for the bathroom. I am still limping about. The leaky tap is on hold! The trick will be to find another sink counter top that works with this one. 

JB fetched us pizza for dinner. What have I been doing? Not much, I tell ya. 

⚽ I tried taping the women's soccer for JB, but 23 minutes in France was already up 3 - 0 over Morocco, so that wasn't really a game. Columbia and Jamaica spent most of the game diving. No fun for viewers. The US/Sweden game was great. There was little diving for penalty kicks. Canada doesn't dive, either.

🎾 Tennis was exciting, with Milos Raonic coming back after years away with injuries. There was a 20-minute tie breaker, and he managed 229 kph serving. He's gotten married during his time off, she's a cutie. It was a nail biter of a game.

Milos Raonic

⛲ My new water fountain pump arrived, but I cannot fix the fountain with my foot like this. The section I tipped over weighs about 30 lbs. 

Just when I thought the excitement for the morning was done, I went out front to check out the Asiatic Lilies.

I was busily doing photos, gingerly being careful of my foot, and I heard a noise. Way up on the Internet satellite, a hawk. 

 

hawk 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I think a sharp-shinned rough-legged hawk, but I don't know. It sat up there, then I dashed out to the back deck to watch. What a surprise! I had so much time that I put the videocamera on the tripod. 

hawk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

It turns out there are a pair of them! Aug. 8 11:30 a.m.

Critters abound: hawk on the bird feeder!

Sadly, I found our wee Saw-whet owl dead beside the house. There was a lot of blood.
I think I know who is to blame. The amateur experts tell me it is a Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk. Maybe!
At the very least they fight fair and don't use guns or bows and arrows. The Saw-whets don't spend much time on the ground, nor do most of our birds.
I've recovered 10 bird bodies last year. Two I took and released.

I have hauled out more frog bodies from the goldfish pond. I hope that is all. I'm not sure I can deepen it, it's 3' in the deep end. I'll look into a bubbler or heater. I feel awfully defeated.
I'm glad I brought some goldfish into the house for winter.

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk

Juvenile hawk at the goldfish pond

 hawk at the feeder

Frog pond melting
-no sign of the Muskrats, but the Wood ducks are back!

I was happy to spot 6 Redpolls in the dead cherry tree. (It succumbed to the long winter last year, only 2 or 3 branches grew leaves.)

#69