Northern Harrier

Another lifer! (It's not hard to find a lifer for me, as my list is only up to 22!)

Yesterday, what appeared to be a large hawk was sitting in the tree in my back yard. I have a small back yard that backs up to a long pond separating me from a golf course. Twiggy brush lines the slope down to the pond, and there is one tree amidst the brush. Within a mile of here, there are several wooded nature preserves and there's a large prairie not far from here.



I get frequent visits from Cooper's Hawks and have seen the occasional Sharp-shinned hawk in my yard, but this hawk was different. It was perched on the far side of the tree, just watching the smaller birds as they flew back and forth from my feeders (near my deck) to the tree. The perching wasn't the strange part; the fact that the smaller birds were ignoring the hawk was the strange part! When a Coop flies in and perches, all of the smaller birds disperse immediately and fly away. Yesterday, though, the cardinals, juncos, house finches, and house sparrows were just ignoring the hawk in the tree.



I watched with amazement, trying to tell the birds telepathically (from inside my house), "Turn around! There's a hawk RIGHT THERE!" but they weren't listening :)

After a good half hour or so of perching in the tree, the hawk took flight and treated me to some awesome maneuvers. As soon as the hawk took flight, the smaller birds flew away. The hawk hung low over the brush, making long laps back and forth and back and forth. It seemed to glide, hovering over the trees, searching for a meal. I've never seen anything like it.



I was able to snap a few photos, which I then tried to use for bird ID purposes. The tail of this hawk in flight was nothing like the shape of the Cooper's or Sharpie. But alas, I couldn't figure out what bird this was, and had to leave for an appointment.

I posted a photo to the Bird ID Help Group on Flickr and left for the night. As I was driving, I thought to myself, some of the photos looked like the bird had an owl face. I figured I might come home to find out that I'm the laughing stock of the bird world, as I posted the photo as "Mystery Hawk" - but what if it really was an owl?! I'd certainly look like a dufus!



When I got home, the owner of Birdfreak.com had replied with an ID of Northern Harrier. Sure enough, that was it! Wow!

What a cool bird! (I was relieved to read of the harrier's "owl-like facial disk" - I wasn't crazy after all!)

The IL Raptor Center web site lists the northern harrier as endangered in Illinois because very few nest here. Has it always been this way, or were there once more northern harriers here? Is the northern harrier an unusual bird to see around here? The Sibley guide lists it as a year-round resident, but the IL Raptor Center web site said that most sightings here are during migration.



The northern harrier was in my yard again this morning - again, just perching in the tree while the other birds went about their business of eating. It flew away without any of the spectacular show it had given me yesterday, but I was glad for the visit anyway. Now, if only it would perch on the near side of the tree so I could get a good look at it!

Here's a link to the photos I was able to capture. I have yet to master the art of focusing on flying birds, but I'm glad I've got these shots to remember the event by!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phlyersphan/sets/72157603796609182/

Messenger Woods and ILBirds

Yesterday, I headed out to Messenger Woods with my new digiscope setup. It's a really nice forest and nature preserve. The trails are rustic (ie. not paved) but easy to navigate, even with the heavy leaf and mud/ice cover combo we've got going on around here. There are 2 main trails - a mile and a half south loop, and a half mile north loop on the north side of Spring Creek. I walked the entire south loop, and part of the north loop, though the trail didn't look as clearly visible past the creek, so I didn't venture up that way. I hear that there is a red shouldered hawk that nests on private property north of the preserve grounds. That would be a life bird sighting to check off on my list, should I ever find it.

The trails were quiet but there were other people at the park. A father and son sounded like they were identifying trees on the west side of the trail while I was on the east side. Several people were in the parking lot as well. I was almost through the south loop when I came across a man walking his dog, Buck. We chatted for a bit and he asked if I had seen the white deer. I said I hadn't, and he told me that there is an albino deer near the front/south part of the woods that has lived there for a few years. That definitely gives me reason to go back!

I didn't find many birds - only a few woodpeckers, and I was too slow getting my gear set up to get any photos. I've learned one thing very quickly with this digiscope: I should have followed the advice in all of my photography books and invested in a good tripod. My uncle said the same thing - one of the first things he suggested I invest in. Well, photography is an expensive hobby with a pretty high entry point as it is (in terms of initial investment required), so I skimped on the tripod and got the $35 variety. (An entry level "good" tripod is around $200). I'm having a very hard time locating birds in the scope with this tripod because the head is a 3-way pan head, not an any-way ball head. I can move left-right or up-down, or can tilt the camera sideways (which is useless if it's a scope on your tripod and not a camera). Following birds or even scanning a tree to find them is very difficult when you can't pan around the tree freestyle. I have to scan left to right, then move down a bit, and scan left to right again. Plus, the motion of this pan head is anything but fluid. It's jerky and resistant even with the tension completely disabled. Oh wise ones, you were very right about investing in a good tripod. I see the err of my ways.

I carried the digiscope setup mounted to the tripod over my shoulder, and had my camera backpack on my back and my binoculars around my neck. I should have had my camera around my neck too, though it's pretty heavy with the 300mm lens attached and likely would have been uncomfortable. I had my smaller camera attached to the spotting scope, but since my dSLR camera was in the backpack, I didn't use it either (not wanting to put the backpack down in the mud to get the camera out).

Learned some lessons... get the scope set up on the tripod BEFORE heading into the woods, lest ye miss a golden opportunity to catch a bird photo while noisily trying to set the gear up. Keep the camera handy, even if it is uncomfortable to carry around the neck.

It was a lovely afternoon, though - even if I didn't get any photos - 47 degrees and sunny. The sun was a bit annoying, as the one chance I had to get some woodpecker shots, I was looking into the direction of the sun - but we haven't seen the sun in a while so I couldn't find it in me to complain.

The bird feeders are still pretty quiet. A few finches and juncos are out there, and a couple mourning doves have stopped by, but nowhere near the mobs I've been used to with the rather early arrival of winter weather this year. Tomorrow, more snow is headed our way - up to 7 inches, early forecasts say - and the temperature is supposed to tumble to arctic lows for the new year before popping back up to more mild numbers. I'm already looking forward to the mild!

I found a discussion group online of Illinois birders called ILBirds. I joined it and posted an introduction along with the photos of my common redpoll visitors, and have received a wonderful response! Many people have suggested places to go birding in the area, and I was invited to join the DuPage birding club on Jan 6th on a field trip, birding several locations starting in Bolingbrook. I'd like to go! Also, the Will County Audubon chapter meetings start up Jan 10th, and while I haven't received confirmation in the mail yet, I did send in dues to the IL Audubon Society to join their group. They do some local birding field trips, too, and I'm looking forward to that. The Will Co. group meets at the Pilcher Park Nature Center. I probably won't be able to make the meetings of the DuPage Co. group, but I might join them to take part in their field trips, which are mostly local to me.

Hawk Patrol

Would you believe that Santa brought me the digiscope setup I was hoping for, but that all morning the local hawk (sharp-shinned, I think) has been patrolling the area around my back yard? It's like being all dressed up with nowhere to go. The scope is set up with my camera, but no birds have stayed in the tree long enough for me to get a shot. :-/

At any rate, we've got sunshine here in Chicago for the first time in a week, and it's a lovely Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas! May your trees be full of happy, singing birds :)

Hawk: Where's Waldo Edition

Hawk: Where's Waldo Edition

Hint: Check the reflection...



Took this one today before work. Maybe the hawks were hanging out around the pond like this. That would explain the overly quiet feeders this morning.

Natural Selection

Ever since I saw my first hawk tear through my back yard and catch one of my little feeder birds, I've been wrestling with what I will call a moral dilemma over the whole thing.

I know that it is Nature working her course for the hawk to eat the smaller birds, but is it wrong for me to knowingly lure birds to an area where they might be preyed upon?

I cried for probably an hour after witnessing my first hawk strike. The next time, I didn't cry. My neighborhood hawk wouldn't starve that day, and there's something good to be said for that. Still, I wrestled with the right and wrong of it all.

I read something today on the blog Bill of the Birds that looks at the issue from an angle I hadn't thought of. A hawk has been visiting his feeders, and here is his take on it:

I love having this bird around. He's keeping our birds on their toes and keeping their populations healthy by weeding out the slow, sick, and weak.

I guess it's like Darwinism, in real life. Natural selection always made sense to me, so why would it not apply here?

Still, it's hard to see a cute little bird die in such gruesome fashion. I think I'd like for the whole process of natural selection to continue on its way, but not while I'm watching.

Saturday Birding

Saturday's Back Yard Birding

By golly, I do believe that I've got BOTH a sharp shinned hawk AND a Cooper's hawk visiting my yard! All this time, I thought they were all the same hawk. Earlier this summer, I had a hawk ID'd as a juvenile Coop. Then, this fall/winter, I've had a hawk visitor ID'd as a very young adult Sharp shinned hawk.

Today, I had a visit from this guy, and I think it's an adult Coop! (red eye)


I'm going with Cooper's because his crown is dark but the back of his neck is more pale, giving him a more capped appearance. The Sharpie has more of a dark neck on the back for a more hooded appearance. This one also has a rounded tail, whereas Sharpies have a more square tail.

So, I think I have multiple hawk visitors!

The white crowned sparrow was back:




And I think he may have a female with him today!


And of course, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the poofy mourning dove:

Two Mystery Birds in a Row!

Indeed, two days in a row I've been presented with a new Mystery Bird in my back yard. Hoorah!

I think I might have this one figured out:

Mystery bird! A white crowned sparrow?

A White Crowned Sparrow, maybe?

A few European Starlings stopped by for a snack, but didn't stay long. They didn't bother the smaller birds and moved along after a few minutes. Their reputation has me nervous, but I enjoyed their visit today.


Snackin' Starling

Heck, the Starlings might even make some friends around here. This male cozied up with a Mourning Dove.

Friends!

My favorite shot of the day:

Napping Mourning Dove

The dove had his nap AFTER the visits from the hawk! There is still debate on what kind of hawk this is. One of these days, I'm going to get a good enough shot of it that there will be a definitive identification! I still tend to think it's a Cooper's Hawk, but others have suggested that he's a Sharp Shinned Hawk or a Northern Goshawk. I'm pretty sure it's between Cooper's and Sharpie, but even when I read that page describing the two side by side, I still come away conflicted!


Dear Hawk, Who are you?!

The feeders are busy and the tree is hoppin' as I get ready to head out to work. I swear I could watch birds all day!

Who needs sleep?

Sleep was neither lengthy nor restful last night. I have no idea why. If all had gone according to plan, my alarm clock would have gone off a minute ago, and I'd be snoozing right now. Instead, I've been up for 3 1/2 hours after sleeping for less than 4.

I'm not one to give up on trying to sleep. Damn it, I'll force myself to sleep if need be! Unfortunately for me (since today is the second of my "long days" at work), I had so much work I needed to get done before noon today that I couldn't stop thinking about it once I woke up.

Couple that with the fact that the hawk was back for another meal today, and ate the damn junco right beneath my bedroom window; there was no going back to sleep for me.

Why the juncos? Why not the house sparrows? Not that I dislike the sparrows, but there are like 5 house sparrows for every one junco at my feeders. And the juncos are SO adorable! Cute little white bellies.



We got our first measurable snow last night, and the birds have been INSANE at the feeders this morning.

The mystery bird was back again today, and again I couldn't get a photo of him before he left, but he was pecking on a tree when I saw him... clues... I think he's a Northern Flicker woodpecker. I can't say with certainty until I get a pic of him or see him a couple more times so I can figure out his beak shape and check out the colors of his crown and rump (ha! I said rump!) But I suspected that's what he might be when I first saw him, and now that he did some tree pecking, I think I was right. The Downy hasn't been back. He'd better hurry. The finches and juncos have figured out how to peck at the woodpecker fruit/nut seed block.

/edit - GOT A PIC of the mystery bird! Holy cow, I do NOT think this is a Flicker and I have NO clue what it is! I can't find it in any of my books. I've asked the Flickr bird ID group again...





The red winged blackbird visited briefly this morning, and the trees have been full of house sparrows, finches, and mourning doves all day.

I guess I'd better go to work now that I've spent an hour birding! I love my avian friends!

House Arrest

I'm quarantined to the house today, as an ice storm has begun and they say that a difference of 1-2 degrees will determine whether we get a quarter inch of ice cover or just snow. It is currently falling as freezing rain, which does not bode well for the worst case scenario!

As I paused at the end of typing that sentence, I caught a bird out of the corner of my eye that looked unusual. I grabbed the binoculars, and... OMG! NEW BIRD!

This time, I had the long lens on the camera and all I had to do was pop off the lens cap and fire away. I grabbed some through-the-screen crappy shots, just to make sure I got something for identification purposes. Then I ran to my bedroom, where it's easier to get higher up to shoot through the non-screened glass. (My desk is in front of my office window). I should put a step stool in my bedroom - then I'd have it made! (Or, I should just figure out how to remove the stupid screens - *still* can't figure it out).



I think he's a Downy Woodpecker. At first I thought Hairy woodpecker, but apparently Downy's have much smaller bills. I didn't get a good profile shot of this guy, but his bill seems pretty small. The Hairy's bill is as long as its head, and this guy's bill doesn't look that long. So I'm going with Downy. I've submitted the photo to Flickr's Bird ID group to see if I can't get some help from the experts.

I was excitedly editing that photo when I heard the tell-tale swoosh of birds departing en masse, which only means one thing: a hawk is nearby. I stood to get a better view out the window, and sure enough, a hawk was weaving in and out of the brush, chasing a bird. "Fly away, guys, fly away!" The hawk swooped down to the ground and... yup. He caught one. I think he caught a junco. I watch in horror as he came out from the brush to the lawn. He stood there for a few minutes (probably squeezing the bird to death - I read that's what they do). I was frozen, staring. He didn't seem to be going anywhere, and I figured I should probably grab my camera. This is all part of it, right?

I grabbed the camera from my desk and ran back to my bedroom. I snapped a few shots, and as the hawk started eating the bird, I broke into tears. I've never been very good at the whole food chain/circle of life thing. When I was little, I loved watching nature shows on TV, but inevitably, there was always a scene where the featured animal became prey to a larger animal, and I'd burst into tears and run to my room. My dad would try to explain that it's just nature, but I couldn't help but sympathize with the poor victim, the underdog. Eventually my mom said, "You have GOT to stop watching those shows!" after one show had me practically hyperventilating in tears. I did stop watching them for a long time. I'd flip past a show on TV with some cute animal and think, keep flipping... he's just going to die anyway.

Then, I went to see March of the Penguins at the movie theater. All of the previews were adorable and funny! I didn't realize it was an actual documentary. Poor Randy. By the end, after seeing the baby eggs freeze and the predator birds attacking the baby penguins, I was a running snot faucet, nearly sobbing as we left at the end of the movie.

I realize that it's probably a good life lesson to come to terms with the food chain. Even as I watched the hawk eating a bird that was here because I lured him to my feeders, I was thinking in the back of my head that the hawk was having a meal, too, and he wouldn't starve today.

Still, I cried through the whole affair, snapping a couple pictures then watching through the binoculars. I apologized to my feeder birds as I watched.



The hawk was taking forever, plucking the bird and eating it, so I decided to try to go outside to get a photo. A couple weeks ago when the hawk was in the tree, it didn't fly away when I went outside, and this time the hawk was much farther away. So I went outside onto the deck and lined up a shot. Right then, the hawk saw me and flew away. I hope he was done eating, but at the same time, I'd like him to think that this isn't the safest place to find a meal.

Every time I see a hawk around here, I think that my feeder birds will never come back. Why would they keep coming to a dangerous place? Well, by the time I got upstairs from trying to take a picture of the hawk outside, the juncos were already hopping around on the ground, out from their hiding places. Within a couple minutes, the finches returned, and within 10 minutes or so, the place was hopping again with house sparrows and mourning doves. That made me feel a lot better. I may lose a bird to a hawk every so often, but I am helping SO many more birds than I lose. And even in losing a bird, I'm helping another - all part of Mother Nature's plan.

Here's a cute shot of a male and female house sparrow, to end this post on a happy note:

Stalking the Stalker

This morning started out like most mornings. I filled the feeders (I'm filling a couple with black oil sunflower seed and a couple with a "gourmet" mixed seed) and watched the incoming mob of house sparrows.



These are the guys I affectionately referred to as "ice cream heads" before I had identified them. Hey, their caps remind me of chocolate vanilla swirl sundaes! What can I say? It's a big ol' sparrow party around here.



I plugged in the heated bird bath today. When I checked it this morning, it was frozen. Time to turn on the juice! The bird bath stayed firmly mounted through the windy weather the other day. I was quite pleased.



The day carried on. The slate colored dark eyed juncos visited (my new favorite backyard bird), and the ducks came for their usual mid-day lunch. This male got seeds all over his head - messy eater.



The females were a bit more discreet. I believe these are Mallards.



As afternoon approached, I saw a first in my yard: mourning doves, in the tree! They hung out here all summer, sitting on the deck railing or on the ground, but not once did I see them in the tree.

3 doves in a row


All of a sudden, I heard the whoosh of a flock full of birds flying up and over my house. I looked out the window, and the tree was bare... except for a hawk! I think this is an immature Cooper's Hawk, but I'm not sure. If anybody knows for sure, please leave a comment!



The hawk stayed for a good half hour or so, and I went outside ever so quietly to try to get some better pictures of it. The trees blocked most shots, but I got a few where you could see those piercing eyes.

It was a lot like stalking the stalker. I watched the hawk through the binoculars for a while, and he was very definitely looking for a bird to eat. After a while, a cat came up to the brush, also stalking the hawk!

The hawk finally left, and within a few minutes, all of the other birds came back to the feeders.

Upon return, I finally saw more house finches! I'd been afraid that the one male that was hanging around was alone, but today he had 3 other males and a few females with him. He's no longer a loner.



As night fell, the ducks swam off and the birds nestled into the trees. I'm left to wonder what they're all doing now.