BANG!

There was a bit of wildlife excitement in the backyard today, and it started with a bang. Literally. I heard a loud BANG, which sounded like something big had hit the house really hard. Naturally I leaped up to go find out what had happened, and when I looked out the window, I saw this:

Backyard Bird of the Day!

Now, this was not my first glimpse, this was when I got nice and close to the window after I ran for my camera (and then found out the battery was dead, and ran to get the back-up). My first glimpse only told me that there was a large bird on the ground, and I thought for a second that it had hit the window, but it wasn't in the right place for having hit the window, and it hadn't sounded like a window hit (sadly, I know what those sound like), and I probably would have seen it at least in peripheral vision if it had hit the window. But when I got a good look, I realized that it was a raptor holding its prey in its talons.

(Just a warning that if you are a REALLY squeamish person, some of what is coming might turn your stomach. But mostly it's only mildly gory).

Here's the above shot zoomed in:

So, it caught a mourning dove. I am somewhat soft-hearted about predation, even though I know it is just the way of things in nature, and therefore I am ashamed of myself for being glad that the prey was a mourning dove, because they are my least favorite bird. I obviously don't know for sure, but I think the raptor must have crashed into the house in the process of hitting the dove. Either that or falcons catching doves is REALLY LOUD. At least I think it's a falcon. I should go get a bird book...

[Walking into the next room where the field guides are kept...]

Hmmm... Okay, maybe it is a hawk, not a falcon. It doesn't look exactly like any of the pictures in the book, but it looks more like the hawks - Accipiters, aka bird hawks (because they eat birds). It sort of looks like the Sharp-Shinned Hawk or the Coopers Hawk. All I can tell you is that it is not a red tailed hawk. Obviously. And it is beautiful. [Edit: further investigation has only confused me more. According to a brief internet search - which you know I don't trust - this bird is way too big to be either a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Coopers Hawk.]

 Note, by the way, that it is in the sun at this point. So, after it caught the bird, it just stood there on top of it for a few minutes. Then it started pulling its feathers out. You can see that there are a few on the snow already.

 As it was working on the de-feathering process, it spent a lot of time looking around. It would pull out some feathers, pause to look around, pull out more feathers, pause to look around... you get the idea.

 Pull out feathers...

 Look around...

 Pull out feathers...

 Look around...

At this point my husband came home and was able to find the camera attachment that allows me to use my telephoto lens, which was removed a while ago (long story). So, I got some closer pictures. 

 They are not great pictures, because by this time the hawk was in the shade - it had not moved, but the sun had. It was out there for over 45 minutes for this lunching process. Also, I was taking the pictures through a dirty window and the window screen. Not that I should be making excuses, but that's why you're not getting a clear view here. Speaking of a clear view, I have no idea if it can see me here - it seems to be looking straight at me, but I don't know if it was able to see in the window. Note the forward facing eyes of a predator. You need that binocular vision to have the depth perception to catch things.

I can't take you seriously with feathers stuck to your face.

 Here's a look at its tongue...

 At this point I cautiously moved outside. I wasn't as close as I was when looking out the window, but obviously got clearer shots without the window and screen.

 I was worried I would scare it away from the kill, but as you can see, it was aware I was there, and just kept on with what it was doing. Such a gorgeous bird.

Eventually I tried to move a little closer, and it flew off, taking the rest of the mourning dove with it, leaving behind a mess of feathers and a grease spot on the snow. No blood, interestingly. I hope the neighbors across the street were looking out their window when it zoomed by. I would also like to mention that this was taking place about 20 feet away from the bird feeder, but while the hawk was there, there were no birds at the feeder. I am sure they were sheltered nearby, and maybe they would have been safe, considering it already had something to eat, but better safe than dinner.

If you want to see some video of the event, click Here. It's not a close shot, so probably not gory, but if you are really squeamish, and are grossed out just knowing what's going on there, maybe you shouldn't watch it.

Waiting, Whining, Wanting Warmth

I miss my backyard.

It hasn't gone anywhere, and neither have I (except for the weekend I went to Chicago during a blizzard), but there has been a barrier between us for the last few weeks. A barrier made of crystalized H2O. It's about 2 feet thick; amazingly it has remained so for the last three weeks, even though it keeps snowing - I think the stuff on the bottom has compacted, and probably some has sublimed, so even though new layers of snow have been added to the top, it doesn't really grow much. One thing is for sure - it hasn't melted.

Now, I know it seems stupid that two feet of snow has kept me inside for the last three weeks. But it's also been cold. Really cold. Unseasonably cold. And windy. And the thing is, there's nothing out there but snow. There's no bugs. There's not flowers. There's just snow and trees that look like dead twigs. And walking through snow up to your thighs is exhausting. And it requires preparation - I can't just slip on my garden clogs and waltz out the door like I do the rest of the year. I have to put on multiple layers of clothing, boots, and with the snow this deep, snowshoes. (It's easy to put snowshoes on. It's not easy to take them off).

Plus, most of the time I am outside I have snow to shovel. It snows every couple of days. Sometimes it's only a couple of inches, but if you let those inches just sit around on the driveway and front walk, they pile up. And turn to ice. Don't even get me started on the glacier that the snowplow keeps leaving in front of the mailbox. I am surprised our letter carrier is even giving us mail anymore. The point is, when I am done shoveling, I am done being outside with the wind trying to rip the skin off my face. I don't want to go for a walk through the yard to look at more snow.

I know I am whining. And I actually really like snow. I am just ready for a bit of thaw. In the last three weeks plus we have only had about three days that had temperatures above freezing. We've had quite a few more nights when the temperature dropped below zero (tonight's another of those). For perspective, the normal temperature for this time of year is 39ºF. And we have had more than an entire winter's average snowfall in the last three+ weeks. (Not that I feel like I can really complain. At least I don't live in Boston, where they have had almost 100 inches of snow in the same time period. We've only had about half that).

Okay, enough whining. Yesterday was slightly above freezing and it didn't take long to shovel the day's snowfall, so I wasn't worn out when I was done, so I decided to get my camera and my snowshoes and go for a tromp in the backyard. I went out today, too, because it was sunny, and I couldn't help it - even though it was back below freezing and painfully windy. 

There are precious few signs of life...

 But it would appear that there are a lot more animals willing to tromp through two feet of snow. (Though in this case it's a bird hopping in the trace left of the path by last night's snow).

 What I find amusing and sometimes puzzling are the places where the footprints just stop. Here, though, it's obvious that a deer turned around and went back the way it came.

 I don't know what made these.

 High traffic area.

There are birds, of course. In fact, if I closed my eyes, and pretended I wasn't freezing, it would have been easy to believe it was springtime. Though to be honest, springtime around here is still pretty cold.

 Which makes it seem weird that apparently the deer are shedding...

 The near-constant wind has been doing it's job. After every snowfall I have been seeing these seeds strewn on top of the snow. I have no idea what they are from, but nature has been preparing for spring planting by moving the seeds everywhere.

 And other seeds, too.

 The other thing the wind does, besides disperse seeds, is make snowballs:

 At least, I am pretty sure that's what's going on here. They are small, but I have seen pictures elsewhere showing much bigger snowballs that the wind made. These are very cute, though.

The snow isn't deep enough to cover everything.

I checked up on Rain Gauge Spider:

I am going to assume still alive. I have wondered how she's been doing, not because of the snow, which obviously she doesn't have to deal with, but the really cold temperatures. I can't wait for spring, to see if she's still alive.

That will obviously be a while.

But...

 ... eventually it will come.

Nature is ready and waiting.

*I broke my own rule for this post. Some of these pictures were taken yesterday. I just didn't get in the mood to blog until today.

Snowflakes That Stay On My... Window Glasses

Hey, you know what you can do with a macro lens in the winter?

 Take pictures of snowflakes!

 I have been trying to do this for ages, but the logistics of it are harder than you'd think. Even having the right kind of snow is an issue - not all snow makes picturesque flakes.

 Today I got lucky - I was looking out an upstairs window, which is at a slant because of the kind of house we have, and there were some snowflakes on the window. I ran for the camera, and here we are! They aren't the closest shots, because it is a double pane window, and I was on the inside while the snowflakes were on the outside, but it's better than I've had before.

 Snowflakes are sort of like bugs in a way - well, two ways. They are small, and they tend to fly away just as you are about to take a picture. Though I suppose I can't really blame the snowflakes, since they are just being carried away by the wind, not zooming off on their own accord like bugs.