The moth trap occasionally creates victims; a very few of the insects seem to keel over at the bottom of the bowl and I suspect that one or two others fall prey to birds, however carefully I try to hide them in the morning. But then life is dangerous and hazards can be surprising.
Consider windows, because they're what brought down this magnificent sparrow hawk. I was reading on the sofa when there was a real 'whump!' at the window which shook the glass but luckily didn't break it. Outside, stone dead, was the bird, still with this tangle of wool in its imposing talons. If you look carefully at the third picture, you can see where it hit the glass. 
A sinister ghostly outline which shows the strength of the impact. If you click on the pic, it should turn enormous and fill your screen with the traces. The hawks are a feature of local bird life, making pathetic-sounding tweets which belie their size and armament. The ladybird is one of several which form a clue question (How many ladybirds can you see at this house?) on an annual treasure hunt by a local school. When my children were here, they evilly removed one ladybird halfway through the afternoon, thus altering the answer, as happened with Gladstone and the Irish Question, according to 1066 and All That.
8 comments:
Hi Martin. Love your blog! If you haven't already disposed of your Sparrowhawk, you could try contacting the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to see if they'd like it. They certainly used to collect raptor carcasses to analyse traces of pesticides in them - might be worth contacting them? Then at least it can do its bit for science...
I am having a hard time enjoying predators lately. I have had really bad times in the past with hawks and my chickens - I am sure a peregrine ate a couple during the winter befor last - then some kind of medium sized hawk certinly had a few. But now it is a fox which found a weakness in my henhouse and demolished the flock but for one traumatised one which fallows us, or the dog, like a dog.
It is flock less as a flock bird and will sit on your shoulder as long as you will let it and wants to be held constantly. I was going to go and get another batch of chickens but this morning I have thoughts of trying to give it away instead. I am keeping it in a cage in the house and let it run about - (that is the only to shut it up.)
If you like birds I have thousands here, we have resident ospreys and I know what you mean by thier little squeaks. In spring when they are flying with thier new offspring the three squeak constantly. But ospreys are terribly vocal anyway. Then we have plenty of the large hawks like red tailed and the chicken hawks. Lots of owls, the odd bald eagle, the tiny kestrel rarely.
But this place is all about eat and be eaten. Wetlands like my brackish bayou produce biomass beyond any other. The water seems more fish than possible - the filter feeding ones, bay anchovies, pogies (menhaden), and mullet will be so thick the surface is all ripples. Under that is the shrimp and crabs eating the algae and detritus - and on the mud are the massed fiddler crabs eating thier diatoms left on the hot mud.
Then everyone eats them - they are just protein factories taking the algae and bacteria and turning it into thier bodies for all to eat. When you deal with them so en-mass they lose creatureness and seem biomass as food. So it is eat and grow and be eaten in a frenetic loop... The horrible way the chickens were done in has me a bit moody I guess.
Annie Dillard said (after Gershwin) "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, Insects it seems gotta do one horrible thing after another." In this madly fecund place everyone is up to no good as far as the others are concerned.
Martin are you a dog person? I have two with me all day every day as they go to work with me. thinking of my chickens here is an old picture that covers lots of things
Weasel dog is at his ratting post peering off the side porch for a rat to appear below for some seed scattered. (It reminds me very much of the etching of pooh and piglet on the bridge playing pooh sticks (by Sheppard).
A chicken is below waiting for a crested tit or chickadee or nuthatch or such to drop a sunflower seed from the feeder hanging.
Just through the brush is water - the bushes are a salt tolerant native ilex that get covered with massed red berries that get eaten in a spectacular way in early spring by migrating flocks (up to 1000 American robins) of robins or cedar waxwings (one of the real beauties of the bird world for thier absolute perfection of plumage - the unscruffiest of all birds, and the tastefulness of thier coloration and beret head dress.)
http://tinyurl.com/lbcgra
Sorry to post so much but I reread my postings and remembered that you are not a dog person, or pet chicken person and that was how you gave me this blog address. And then that is what I talk of...
I am such an animal person, especially pet ones I guess, and have been a bit stunned by my recent chicken bereavement.
So to apologise here is a photo of Fred, my companion Great Blue Heron who lived on my land for a good wile and had absolutely no fear of me (I always have resident Blue Herons but they are breed typical and shy) http://tinyurl.com/nzmupj
By having him so close I got to see things one would never think herons do - they get up to all kinds of things - as all wild life do that we rarely see.
but I am shirking because I have a particularly nasty job today, cutting out rotted wood under a derelict house I am rebuilding - in the 100 F heat. Evin the dogs just lay panting watching me.
Hi both! Sorry for delay in responding - I've been celebrating Penny's birthday and the Mystery Fun Events are far from over...
That's really interesting about the CEH, Katie. I'm afraid it's too late now, but I'll remember just in case and will also pass it on. It's very sad when birdstrike happens but it does give you a chance to have a good look (like the mothtrap with the moths). I remember reading once that Charles Darwin as a (very sensitive) boy said that he would only study animals which he found already dead. But he had to abandon that approach. We'd never have had The Origin of Species otherwise.
Dorry, your comments are great and fascinating. 100 degrees! How I wish we had that (though I wouldn't be wanting to do hrd work in it either). Ospreys are much-valued in the UK. Several reintroductions have worked well in England itself. That's also been a huge success with the red kite, a majestic bird which now circles around over much of North Leeds. It's got a lovely rusty colour and a pronounced V-tail and is so much bigger than anything else flying round here (apart from aircraft from Leeds-Bradford airport) that I still draw breath when I spot one and think: no, not pterodactyls in Yorkshire, surely...
Hello, I was wondering if the photo from the crash is photoshoped or something, since I can even see the bird´s eyes on it (the iris and the pupil).
Hi there - no it's just a straightforward digital pic
sad fate!
I see, nice shot. Thanks for sharing.
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