Flag pole topper

 I've been busy. I took time figuring out how to put it back up. It took a new lag bolt. It's not a bird house, although the birds like to sit on top of it. Like all of us, it needed a new coat of paint and some glue to hold it together.

Broad-winged hawk from last summer, and brown-crested flycatcher. 

 

I've repainted it, and it looks better. I painted myself for good measure! 

The trick was to put the railings in. I tried gluing them, but it was a cold day. 

It was tricky figuring out how to reattach it to the flag pole. Can you see how the railing fell off? I reglued it, swung it up, and hoped for the best. 

VOILA! This is a heavy 6 x 6" pole. It is tricky! It is easier putting it back up than bringing it down. There are three rebar 'bolts' and I remove two, pivot it on the remaining one.

I hurried to repaint it and put it back up. I know the House Wrens liked the nest box in previous years, video. 

Look who I heard outside! A potential customer. (Summer photo!)

It's a lousy image, but the song from this little thing! 

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!

The hawk tale!

Merlin told me it was a Broad-shouldered hawk. iPhoto told me is is Broad-winged, as well. My friend, professional photographer, assures me it is a broad-winged hawk. He writes for outdoors magazine, and he has a pair nesting near. 

On Aug. 3rd it landed on the branch, and stared into #75's nest box. Hide, #75! I just saw squirrel the other day, too. I think! It has flown by a couple of times. It's been more frequent.  

8:30 a.m.

Birdie came back, surprisingly. Around 9:45.

Not to be outdone, I took photos, then leaned my camcorder on top of the zoom camera. You can see the white feathers.

It was tricky, just leaning on the camera with the camcorder, but I did it. It was screeching something in hawk-speak. 

However, there are two hawks! 

 

Tuesday, Aug. 5th no sign in the morning. I really didn't appreciate that 5:30 a.m. wakeup cry the other day. It is a piercing sound. They were flying further away, and one flew over once in the afternoon. They do migrate, we'll enjoy them while we can.

They form large groups, called kettles, since they swirl up in the sky as they move around. They fly to South America for winter. It is a chilly 12 ℃ this morning. I can feel the change.

That said, I've evidence of the bobcat, doe, turkeys, driveway fox, Booboo bear, barred owl, and fisher. More on those later! 

No sign of the hawk Aug. 9th., 10th, 11th.

Heard it Aug. 14th.