Tuesday, December 05, 2006

A Chicken Hawk (me making chicken sounds)

Drats! I missed out taking a picture of a hawk in action.

I noticed out a den window a big hawk landing on a limb close and in plain sight. He had a huge beautiful wing-span. He was studying the activities below him, which would be the area I scatter the scratching feed. There are normally small birds and squirrels feasting there.

I carefully walked slowly out of the den and got my camera and slowly moved back in. The hawk was gone.

I stood at the window and I saw the hawk in a tree at the edge of our yard. I stood still waiting to see if the hawk would return. I had the camera ready.

Then, I noticed below where the hawk was sitting a squirrel climbing the tree, about 4 or 5 feet below his feathered natural enemy. I zoomed the lens in for a closer shot.

Then the squirrel looked up and saw the hawk perched on the limb looking away. Didn’t the hawk hear the squirrel? I thought they were suppose to be super alert creatures to have superb hunting abilities. When the squirrel saw the hawk it jerked and backed down under a limb near him and peeked around the limb at the hawk. It didn’t seem to notice him.

The squirrel thought about the pros and cons of the situation and decided his best defense of an offense. The squirrel ran up the tree and was about to leap on the hawk when the hawk heard him, turned around, and almost fell off his limb – the hawk leaped into the air and flew away with that huge flapping wingspan.

The squirrel proudly, in is own way, clapped his forefeet at himself, and went on up the tree.

In the meantime, when the hawk suddenly took off from the limb he got the attention of a gang of crows hanging out in a nearby tree. The started chasing, aerial dogfighting, and squawking a the poor hawk. The poor hawk fled for the little patch of woods behind our house.

Isn’t that something? Instead of a grand and glorious hawk with a five feet wingspan we have a scaredy-cat hawk will and five feet wingspan who is afraid it might get scratched.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds like a chicken chicken hawk.

Eddie said...

Bird,
I think your are right - the little fury critters can par-ty right in front of him and I think he would look the other way.

kenju said...

Maybe he doesn't fancy squirrels, Eddie. I can't figure out why crows would intimidate him, though.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Eddie said...

Judy,
That is a common occurrence around here. A group of crows will gang up a hawk when he is flying and aggravate him. I think they might consider the hawk competition.