Wednesday Vignette May 17, 2017

I heard a songbird shrieking and realized the songbird was shrieking at a...is that a Cooper's Hawk?  Jeez, wish I had my camera...huh, it's in my hand!  Quick!  Click!

The hawk was looking for the songbird's nest--or at least the songbird thought so.  I think the shrieker was the hooded Oriole that constantly flies down and pecks flowers off Aloe pseudorubroviolacea.   
Or was the hawk looking for lizards?  
It did not find the nest, or a lizard, and so flew away.  The songbird shrieks stopped.  The garden was quiet once again.  

All sorts of drama happen in a garden.  It's not a living room full of furniture that no one ever sits on.  It's...a...living...room.   

More Wednesday vignettes at Flutter And Hum.  

Comments

  1. So true! And great timing there to have the camera on hand!

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    1. Just taking photos of Hems and Clems and saw the bird, thought I'll never get the camera in time, and then realized my camera was in my hand. I had to laugh at myself.

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  2. Sounds like your living room was almost a living room/dining room combination. The life and death dramas that play out in our gardens are pretty amazing; something the outdoor room, garden in a day, redecorating folks don't talk about.

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    1. A very open floor plan!

      Not only do furniture people not talk about it, they probably don't even know about it.

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  3. So wonderfully serendipitous! So glad you had the camera.

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  4. Strange how visceral our response is to hearing a songbird shrieking, or the utter dead silence, as they wait. I remember our flock of weavers and sparrows in Porterville. Not so much here.

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  5. I'm surprised I don't see more hawks here. During the occasional visits of red-tailed hawks here, the garden goes entirely silent and lizards, small birds, and squirrels all fade away.

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    1. Maybe it's the plentiful supply of rats that keeps them fed. We have owls, too, hooting at night.

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    2. Was just thinking what Kris said -- takes real panic adrenaline to get birds to shriek at hawks rather than go still. That terrible sound here at this time of year often means a blacksnake has found and raided a nest.

      Will never forget sight of a hawk going like a jet across the back yard, straight into the crown of a beech, grabbing a squirrel off a branch without seeming to slow for even a moment, and streaking onwards. Gave me a real respect for their deadly skills.

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  6. Great shots - your timing was just perfect! After spending some time studying an Arctic owl at the Central Park Zoo a long long time ago, I always wonder about those raptor necks - it almost seem they have no limits as to how far they can turn their heads. Kind of like R2D2... We sometimes have a visiting Redtailed Hawk. When he visits, all the little critters are very grateful my garden is such a mess. There are ample places to hide!

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    1. The intensity of those red eyes! Scared even me. I've seen a Red Tail pounce on a lizard right in front of me (sigh) and once up on a ladder at the corner of the house, another whipped around the corner and touched my cheek with its wing tips. They are endlessly amazing.

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  7. I agree with you a garden is not a livingroom!!! It's great that you could make photo's of this beautiful bird Hoover Boo.
    Have a wonderful day.

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    1. Much more quiet in a living room! Have a beautiful day, Marijke.

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  8. fantastic photos of the hawk. High drama in the garden at times - and sometimes drama of a slightly different kind happens in the house ....

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