Backyard Predator

Today I was watching the little birds eating at the feeders in our backyard. Suddenly, as if responding to an unheard signal, every single one of them flew off into hiding. Now, it’s not entirely unusual for these little birds to fly away in groups. But for all of them to do it as if controlled by a single brain is unusual.

I opened the sliding glass door that opens onto the patio and heard a loud rustling in the hedge that forms the rear perimeter of our yard. As I watched, a gorgeous hawk flew out of the hedge and landed on a tree branch. He sat there preening himself after his headlong dive into our hedge in pursuit of his prey. He was a gorgeous specimen of one of nature’s truly beautiful killing machines. And I found it funny that he, like our ‘tiels, liked sitting on one leg, with the other tucked up into his soft chest feathers.

I ran inside and grabbed the binoculars and digital camera. While I was able to snap these photos, I was unable to get woo out of the shower in time to see him. Her loss.

I love it when the wild intrudes into our suburban sprawl. Well, at least when it’s a beautiful hawk in a tree. I’d probably feel differently if it was a wolverine in the bathtub.

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