Big Hungry Birds: 1 Pigeons: 0

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

So I looked out my bedroom window late this afternoon to see who was at the bird feeder in my yard and what my Cirque du Soleil squirrels were getting up to in the snow. Whoa! Instead of the usual mix of house sparrows, cardinals and starlings, there was this guy sitting on his kill just ten feet away. I've had the occasional pigeon here, pecking at drops from the bird feeder, but they are not typical. Have had a pair of mourning doves hanging around recently and I have to admit I am glad it was not one of them (love their call and the weird squeaking noise they make when they take off; also their pair bonding).

This was a bit shocking to see at first – have only seen one hawk here before, and then just on the fly in a failed swooping attack. Have had a few cat kills recently which I have not been so happy about (though not because I think cats should be kept indoors but only that I don't want to be maintaining a honeypot to attract  prey for their amusement). This guy was big, though I guess in hawk-world they are mid-sized but this close he seemed huge – body the size of a football. I tapped on the window and made some noise to try to get him to turn around but aside from a bit of head movement he wasn't going anywhere.

After a while he proceeded to tear the pigeon apart. What was eerie (though not surprising) was the complete absence of any other creatures. Usually there are all sorts of comings and goings but I guess word was out on the small creature network.

And that's the way it is...from this nature preserve behind KickAss Cupcakes.

Comments

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I was in a meeting last week in my office in Waltham and we had been chatting about our local wildlife sightings when a hawk swoops in and lands on a branch right outside our window. We watch as he takes off and returns about 3 minutes later with lunch. Pretty small meal, so we were thinking mouse or something similar sized. Not as dramatic as the rat and squirrel feasts the big hawks I observed at Tufts in the past were having, but always interesting to watch nature in action.

[thanny2000.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who just moved to Waltham, near the river, in January and she sent me a photo of a bald eagle that was in a tree outside their kitchen!