Size 10-14" (25-36 cm)
Small woodland hawk with gray back and head, rusty red breast. Long tail with
several dark tail bands, widest band at end of squared-off tail. Red eyes.
Female: same as male, but larger.
She builds a platform nest: 1 brood per year; 4-5 eggs, white with brown markings.
Female and male feed young.
A common hawk of backyards and woodland, often seen
swooping in on birds visiting feeders. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .who also enjoy a dip and a drink - which is why these darlings,
the quiet and gentle mourning doves, took off in a hurry!
I was watching them from the window when I saw the hawk
land above them on the tree branch - fluttering wings their only sound,
and then they were gone. Safe thankfully.
Chilly March afternoon - just another day in the garden.
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Such beautiful birds and fabulous photographs .... you get a mini safari in your own back yard Mary !!! XXXX
ReplyDeleteJackie, we certainly love our garden birds and spacious outdoor area - enough to make the decision to stay in this house for as long as we are able, thus a lot of renovations planned for this year! Not ready for the condo with perhaps a tiny balcony or patio, and definitely not planning assisted living apartments/nursing homes any time soon, God willing!
DeleteMary x
Dear Mary, These are especially beautiful photographs.
ReplyDeleteGina, the doves are so sweet and gentle - they do not deserve to be hunted by raptors!
DeleteThankful when they flew - that hawk stayed for quite a while, staring down and preening - then took off. Quite some time before any birds returned to the feeders and baths!
Mary x
Such beautiful photos. I am looking forward to my new home and having bird feeders galore.
ReplyDeleteLook at the colors on the mourning dove. Exquisite. I think hawks should eat those field mice, which are surely just as tasty as a dove
ReplyDeleteMary, we have hawks that live in our neighborhood. They once nested in our front tree, and I admit I was taken with them, watching the babies grow and learn to fly. I even had an interesting one way conversation with one when I was out gardening. It flew in above me, and I talked to it. After watching me and seemingly listening to my every word for a good five minutes, it took off. Now that we have Sadie, I just as soon the hawks not nest in our trees. ;-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful birds, both varieties - one fierce and one gentle. How lovely to have them come to your birdbath.
ReplyDeleteWell, the hawk needs to eat - and feed his or her young, too... That's nature, it has nothing to do with the hawk being "bad" or the doves not "deserving" to be hunted... But of course you know all that.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I hate to think of (or, worse, witness) any animal being hunted and killed by another, but I know it is part of nature. A few mornings ago, I found a heap of dove feathers near our front door. I knew instantly what had happened, as it occurs relatively often in my area: a buzzard had killed a dove. My neighbour later told me I was right, as he had seen the buzzard just as he was taking off with his prey, to eat it somewhere safe and undisturbed by the many crows we have around here.
Boa tarde, quatros fotos de enorme beleza e qualidade, a nitidez de cada uma mostra na perfeição os detalhes, sua arte para fotografar é ímpar.
ReplyDeleteAG
I love soda bread, my aunty used to make wonderful bread and my Gran used to make it over an open peat fire in a kettle, it was to die for. I miss their bread.
ReplyDeleteGlorious photos - so sharp and clear.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall you saying that one of the mourning doves disappeared and they were not longer mates, a few years back or am I thinking of someone else? Anyway, that Hawk is incredible and in your garden, no less? Wow!
ReplyDelete