Predator on deck
Carissa Braun, look what Ana found. She was growling and it took me a while to figure out why. What’s interesting is that she doesn’t bark or growl at the crows, pigeons, or sparrows that land on the deck. Maybe she sensed it’s a predator.
February 25, 2016
I’m positive she knew it was a predator. Plus how often do you see Hawks in your area vs all the smaller birds. Also crows are not as big as Hawks.
February 25, 2016
It looks like a Cooper’s hawk but its a little hard to tell from the photos.
February 25, 2016
Megan V, we see predatory birds somewhat regularly. We see signs of them in the late winter and early spring. I wonder if this is a juvenile bird. It wasn’t much bigger than a crow.
February 25, 2016
Oh there is another hawk that is about the size of a crow, but I forgot what its called.
February 25, 2016
BTW, Carissa Braun, that is snow on the deck. You’re welcome.
February 25, 2016
That’s Grandpa not a predator!
February 25, 2016
Peter Lindelauf, do you think Patchy would do the same?
February 25, 2016
Palee Haney, do you remember what type of predatory bird showed up at Great Bear Lake?
February 25, 2016
Funny how Ana doesn’t care about the crows.
February 26, 2016
Gah! What is that white stuff? It’s an abomination! Why would you leave the warm, warm house?? It’s too cold looking to do anything!
And unless the tree is hiding more than I’ve notice, it looks like a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Their tail is much more flat and they’re a small hawk.
Somewhat similar, we noticed our coatimundis could differentiate between venomous and non-venomous snakes. I don’t know for dogs, but it was clearly scent the coatis used to differentiate. If we didn’t clean the snake hook between, say, moving a copperhead from one cage and then getting a rat snake out of the coati cage, the girls went absolutely nuts from it. They hated the smell of copperhead.
February 26, 2016
Carissa Braun, sorry that’s the best I could do with the cellphone camera. Last time a hawk stopped by, maybe a couple weeks ago, it flew away before I could grab the camera.
So the tail makes you think it’s a Sharp-shinned Hawk instead of a Cooper’s Hawk? I think Cooper’s Hawks are more common in this area.
February 26, 2016
Cooper’s Hawk in general are more common in suburban areas, but you’ll get a Sharpie in winter every now and then. This one is a juvenile either way, but Coopers have rounded tails and Sharpies have flat tails. It’s one of the few easier ways to differentiate (and one of the few ways I can recall, for now). Sadly, birds are generally not fond of cameras from my experience 😉
March 4, 2016
I just need you to know Chad Haney that, officially, today it was 97F, but unofficially, according to the thermometer, it was actually 101F. 😀
March 4, 2016
It’s 30 °F right now, Carissa Braun. There’s still a bit of snow on the ground.
March 4, 2016
And all I can say is ew.