Saturday's Critters: Sharp-shinned hawk!

 This is the Mourning Dove in the tree. I keep mistaking it for a hawk, or a larger bird! We had 14 mourning doves on a bird count day.

We were sitting here, and something made me look up. Birds were flying about suddenly...

It is incredibly fast!

 

It ended up in the horse chestnut tree, then hopped into the evergreen, where the birds tend to shelter from the cold and wind.

It landed in the tree, then hopped into the evergreen. They are fierce-looking!

Visit more critters here: 

Saturday's Critters # 578

Coopers or sharp-shinned?

 We had a visitor at the bird feeder. I was sitting in my lazy boy chair, and I looked up and out the window. There it was. I think I did a sort of double take. "OMG, a hawk!" 

Let me crop that for you!

Question is, is it a Sharp-shinned or a Cooper's hawk? <= this site provides some clues. 

That written, I still don't know! We had a Cooper's here before, confirmed by Gilligalou. 

Then, there was this one, a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk, on a cold afternoon. It was April, 2015. [Critters abound: hawk on the bird feeder!]

This is our sharp-shinned hawk.

This one hit the window, self-inflicted chasing a bird! It recovered, as Hooper watched over it. [Tornados, Cardinals, Butch, and a hawk!]

I got up, and went to the other window. By the time I remembered, on my new videocamera, that I had to manually open the lens cap, it was in flight. Hawk jan 2 

What a day for critters!

Twas an adventure. Driving along Lanark County roads, I came around a corner, and spotted a deer and fawn on the road. It's hard to spot on the dashcam video, but momma heads right, into the bushes covering the fence. Fawn stands in the middle of the road, then sprints left as a tractor rounds the corner.
These are stills from the video, followed by archival photos. I haven't seen any fawns this year. They are deep in the forest, avoiding our bugs.


It's no wonder that week by week,  we average about 10 deer collisions in the region.
Fawn from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, I arrived home. Look up on top of the tree trunk! Can you see it? I stopped right beside the tree and it didn't move for the longest time. This is our regular visitor, a sharp-shinned hawk who likes to fly along the driveway.
This is a bold hawk. It returned Wed., July 26th.



Sharp-shinned hawk from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then, there are the backyard birds happily catching all those bugs.
phoebe from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Mrs. Grosbeak from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Then there was the robin, who was watching the veery pair!
backyard birds from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

More sightings; hawk, deer

On my way home from visiting my client, I spotted our sharp-shinned hawk, or red-tailed, I'm not sure!. It has a way of glaring, doesn't it?! In the first photo, there is a bird on a fly-by, just in the center beyond the hawk. The crows were not happy with it in the area. You can figure out what it did in the last photo, not captured on the photo, thankfully.



I saw a doe in our back 100m. She was clearly agitated, and worried about a predator. You can see her ears back, listening. Hubby spotted something in the back on the edge of the forest.
There have been a lot of bear sightings nearby. He doesn't think he saw a bear, though. We'll keep you posted. The deerflies have been miserable, and we haven't seen many deer about, perhaps we have a new predator?


Then, there are the deerflies. The ticks are way down this summer. This is why deer are scarce.

A sunny day! Whoopee!

Yes, so off I went. I went to check out the owl's favourite tree. I keep track, just for fun. He's visited and left evidence on these days. Some days he'll poop, others he'll leave an owl pellet (undigested bones and fur of prey), but I haven't actually seen him since December.

Dec. 23rd – One out hunting in the afternoon sun (video).

Jan. 22nd – BLue jays clued me in. Photos and video!

Jan. 24th – Near the nest, blue jays alerted me again.

Feb. 24th – Found an owl pellet under his favourite tree!

Mar. 29th – Pooped under his tree in the night.

As I returned from the farthest part of the back yard, the geese flew overhead! Then they aimed at the lake, then veered.

What a glorious sound! They are a bit miffed, as our lakes are still frozen. They are in corn fields all across the region, hoping for a melt.



If you like the sound...
Geese on the fly from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The turkeys think it is mating season. They are displaying to entice the females. Bambi doesn't quite know what to make of it all!


Daisy and I went walkies. This fallen tree has proven to be entertaining for all. Hubby took Annabelle there the previous day.




The tree sits in a group of five. I think of them as the Cinq Soeurs. They are a group of five trees, and one, eventually, fell over, June, 2016. I watched the tree sway in the wind. It creaked for months. This is what it has looked like since then. The cats love it!


Daisy is a climber. She ran for yards, then flung herself up the tree. She was so happy!


Outside, the snow still melts. Although, today, we have had snow since 5:30 a.m., and now, at 8:30, it's rain.


Inside, my Orchid Cactus is beginning to bloom in the strength of the afternoon sunshine. I look forward to its huge blooms! [ It blooms for a couple of months! My Orchid Cactus blooms!] I put it outdoors in May. That's the second photo! I shall anticipate such blooms!


Oh, yes. Sitting inside, I spotted a chickadee swoop across the window vista, swiftly followed by my sharp-shinned hawk!
He is a frequent flyer, and often appears in the afternoon. He wasn't watching me! I have an archival photo of him on top of the bird feeder stand! At the time of the 2nd photo, April, 2015,  the experts told me he was a juvenile.