Economy got you down? Looking for ways to save your hard earned do-re-mi? Thinking of cutting back or cutting off birdseed altogether? Let them fend for themselves, right?
But wait! Try the new Sharpienator. One sharpie used only once or twice a day will solve that bird food drain on your scarce resources. And it is Absolutely Free! You can’t buy the Sharpienator in any store. But wait. There’s more!
So, you get the idea. When the last snows started to melt the action at my feeders returned quickly to null and void. I am used to having a coops cruise the place on a regular basis. This year it’s a handsome and very stealthy adult male. But very little birds manage to visit the feeders anyway. Goldfinches and such. Chickadees will scold a Cooper’s Hawk. At sparrow size all this changes. They are big enough and slow enough to not risk exposure to a stalking Cooper’s Hawk.
Today it became very clear why even the little guys were not around. I mean, like, gone, absent from class. The following sharpie photos were taken in an apple tree that is usually the last stop for birds before they approach my feeders. He just sat there, alertly monitoring any action in the area. The last shot of the series below, while not a good bird photograph, shows the hawk in sight of flying prey and just about to launch after it. Note the complete streamlining of its body feathers from a pose of observation to one of ignition for pursuit. Also the relative proportion of the head to the body has altered considerably.
Attention wandering:
Attention in the wrong place:
Resigned:
Disinterested:
Interested:
Very interested:
Birds are cool! Lanny
These images and Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.
I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog. There are also times when I just send out photos to the list without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve. Not on the list? Want to be? Just contact me saying you want to be on the list or, better yet, subscribe to Feedburner above, in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email. Getting off the list is just as simple.
Related posts:
- raptor photos … young Cooper’s Hawks on Martha’s Vineyard It has been a bonanza year for raptor nests...
- Coming of age on the Vineyard, hawks in flight, almost The young Cooper’s Hawks at the nest near Abel’s...
- Birding Martha’s Vineyard, A Winter Staple: Purple Sandpipers There are some simple reasons I can’t stay away...
- Barn Owl on Martha’s Vineyard I received a call from someone who had found...
- Avian Art Goes Swan It’s not very hard to obtain decent bird photos...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
N. Miller 01.26.10 at 5:33 pm
I give up! What is a sharpienator?
Lanny McDowell 01.26.10 at 5:45 pm
Here is the recipe: You take one Sharp-shinned Hawk, alive, and one Terminator, the movie type. Put both in a blender and press Mix for 30 seconds. Pour into a mold marked small raptor and let sit until firm. Add a spark of life to generate action and , Voila, you have an avian predator of considerable skill and ferocity. There is no “mild” nor “medium” for this sauce.