I commented to my daughter about a hawk calling in the yard. She said it was not a hawk but a blue jay imitating a hawk. She knows a lot about bird calls and can draw birds by calling. She said the birds respond because they are defending their territory.
You find some real nice critter pics, Tony. I assume that's a baby Snow Owl. The Burrowing Owl -They live in the ground in burrows they've dug, in abandoned burrows, or in man-made structures (pipes.) -They hunt during the day and store ahead. One burrow explored in Canada had over 200 mice stashed away. -The scatter their dung around the entrance to attract dung beetles and other insects.
Amazing Birds, the way they run maybe we should start a new sport owl races. The animal kingdom is so fascinating it's stories like this that make my day.
Darn, my daughter sent me a couple photo's of hawks that she saw on one of her walks some months ago, she got up close to it...I'm looking for the pictures but can't find them, darn. This is not in the country but in our city hear her house.
Find those pics, darnit! There is a 24 hour cam feed set up in our state capital of a peregrine falcon nest, smack in the middle of the city. Out here in the sticks, I've had a great horned owl take up residence along with the barred owl. Every once in a while it sits in a tree just outside my living room window and scares the poop outta me.
A few Towns over from where I live about 8 Mi away there are a few colonies of Monk Parrots, there's also a very large nest in Brooklyn in one of the cathedrals. Interesting how they can adapt to the cold environment.
I just read a little about their feral colonies in WIKI. Apparently they survive the cold by building communal nests around heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles. They're even in Chicago!!! Regarding the ones at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, at first their nests were destroyed by groundskeepers, but after a chemical analysis showed that pigeon poop destroys brownstone (I assume because of its level of acidity) and monk parakeet poop does not, the monk parakeets were allowed to continue nesting there. They displace the destructive pigeon population, thus saving the historical structure...free of charge.
My cousin had them visiting her bird feeder. There's one Street in her neighborhood that you can see the nest on top of the poles.
We have some spoiled crows here who chase away the hawks. Ironic that one of the hens killed Pretty Bird the crow who protected them from the hawks, then the same night something killed Goldy the hen in the pen. still can't imagine what could have killed her because our pens are really secure.
Weasels sneak up behind chickens, bite their necks, then lap up the blood that spills out onto the floor. But weasels don't suck the blood out of them...they lack the jaw strength (according to what I just read.) You're thinking of the IRS.
It's Hawk Mating Season again. This usually entails 2 or more males fighting over a female as she watches to see who's gonna buy dinner. Most years it's an aerial battle, with the males dive-bombing each other and the female circling high overhead. Today I heard them screaming outside my kitchen window so loudly I thought one of them had caught a feathered meal right at the house. I looked outside and spooked them...they were either fighting on the ground or were flying close to the ground. When I got near the window, the 3 of them flew into the woods. I've not seen (or heard) much of my owls this year...either the 4 barred owls or the great horned owl. The 3 juveniles that were around so often in 2021 will be hitting breeding age soon, if they've not already. I hope they take up residence nearby.