Gone to the Birds

Last night was so peaceful after a day of high winds and blowing dirt.

Around 9:00pm, Malcolm had just come in and finished getting cleaned up, and I was getting ready to fix him something to eat, when his dad came knocking on our door. He was clearly excited about something, as he told me that Malcolm and I should come on the four wheeler to the bridge and to bring my camera.

Then he hurried off.

So, we rushed out the door, dressed in our evening comfies, me in flip flops and he in boots with no socks on. He trotted off to the barn to get the jeep, while I got distracted from my hurrying by a really pretty sunset (as seen above). His shouted "hurry up Sarah" brought me back to earth.

Down the road we went, dirt flying behind us (and above us, and past us, because the wind was still blowing a bit. So much for having cleaned up for the day). We saw four wheeler brake lights ahead in the evening gloom, and I got distracted again while admiring the silhouette of an owl just down the road from where the four wheeler was stopped.

hazard of photography in a bumpy jeep. It's a whole other ball game from trucking photography

I love owls. They are so elusive, we rarely see them but for maybe their shadow caught in the headlights as they float bast the truck windows after dark. I love to sit out at night and listen to them call back and forth. Mom and I used to sit on her porch and listen to them calling in the woods on the mountainside behind her house.

Malcolm's dad, by this time, was standing in the weeds up by the fence, and suddenly something started fluttering around by his feet.

this is his "get the hell away from me" face

Apparently Malcolm's dad had been out checking cows or something and had seen this not so little guy out on the road. And then Junior, in his "not quite together" flying attempt, had fluttered over into the fence. That was Mom or Dad that was on the electric pole down the road. She was calling out to Junior and clacking her beak at us.

Junior was carrying on his own percussion solo with beak clacking. He was doing his best to make himself look and sound threatening.

Isn't he gorgeous? Malcolm and his dad got Junior away from the fence so he'd not get tangled in it again, and as we backed off, he took off........for a few feet......and landed on a cluster of reeds.....right in the middle of the water of a beaver pond.

At this point, it was a little dark for photography, plus I promised Malcolm I wouldn't take pictures. We were going to just leave him there, but neither of us felt good about it. He clearly wasn't good at this flying thing yet, and to get out of the water, he was going to have to fly several yards and up instead of horizontally as seemed to be his only skill. There were steep banks on either side of the pond/creek. So my hero husband, rolled up his pant legs and took off his boots and waded into the calf deep water and black oozing mud (and our mud really stinks around here....really....it STINKS!) to fetch Junior out of the weeds and back onto dry land.

Mama was still nearby fussing over the interference so as soon as we got him away from a certain drowning, we backed off again. As we started to pull away in the jeep, we were admiring the adult owl on the electric pole. She suddenly took off and flew to some trees nearby. And when we looked back, Junior was gone. We were a bit worried he might have landed in the water again, but we couldn't see him anywhere. So we're choosing to believe he headed to the trees with his parent.

I spent some time this morning digging around on the internet looking at pictures of other juvenile owls for our area. This one, by all appearances is a Great Horned Owl, one of the most common species of owls. Did you know they are one of the only animals that will kill skunks? I thought that was interesting.

no comments please on the red reindeer pants! I might get in trouble for posting this and you'll only make it worse by teasing!

So, hawks, orioles, and now owls. I know your used to an overload of horse pictures when we're at home, but it looks like this time we've gone to the birds!


Speaking of orioles, the same day of the male oriole spotting, I was folding clothes in the bedroom and heard a beautiful bird song outside my window. I slipped over to peak out and see who was singing to me, and guess who was there? Mrs. Oriole! She wasn't as flashy as the Mr. but her song is oh so pretty! I'm thrilled to have a pair! They've been singing to me all week, and I've spotted the male several times. If you missed his picture, it's at the end of the following post, right after all the new baby hawk pictures are. And if you really need a horse picture fix and missed them earlier this week, they are in the post following the one following this one.

Summer Days....continued

I love to get outside this time of year. There is just so much to see, and enjoy! So yesterday morning (Monday) I went out to get the horses in, and took my time about it.

We're really dry in our area this summer. In fact the hay is pathetic, and the wildflowers are nothing like they were last summer. But there's still lots of western yarrow blooming, and little faint spots of purple and yellow here and there. And of course, the cactus don't mind the drought.

I had another item on the agenda while I was out in the horse pasture, and that was to check on the hawk nest that I told you about a few weeks ago.

As I headed out into the pasture, my heart was sinking because there wasn't any sign of the adults. On previous visits the hawks would always take flight and start circling overhead long before I was anywhere near the nest.

the nest is on the smaller hill to the right, and the parent's keep watch from the tip of the larger hill on the left

I drove up to the base of the hill, climbed over the fence, and began to make a slow climb to the nest sight. There was nothing visible, which really made me worry, because I figured by this time the chicks should have been fairly large.

I was nearly to the top, and everything was absolutely still and silent. There was no movement at all. It was very discouraging.
And then suddenly there was the noise of violently flapping wings right above my head and I ducked and turned just in time to see one of the parent's swooping away. I'd just been dive bombed by a hawk!

And when I turned back around, I discovered that a frontal attack had been in progress too!

I don't know if he thought a parent was delivering dinner, or if he was going to help defend the nest. Either way, he must have leaped out of the nest because there had been no sign of him prior to the diving hawk attack.

The other chick was hunkered down in the nest, where good little hawk babies belong. This one must be the obedient child! I was so thrilled to see they have survived!

There was no sign of that smaller chick or the dud egg that had been present on the previous visit, so it would seem there are just the two chicks. But two is awesome, and probably they have a higher chance at survival if the parents only have to feed two. Amazing how they've grown! Aren't they handsome and regal?

In a ratty, molting, juvenile kind of way?

Mom and Dad were both circling by this time, and I'd been dive bombed at least twice more. I didn't stick around too long or get too close, but it was an awesome experience.

And thanks to Mom and Dad's aggression, I was able to positively identify them. These are definitely Ferruginous hawks, as I had thought before!

I slipped back down the hill to leave, but had to take several backward glances to see what the chick was going to do (and a few upward glances to see if there were any more attacks coming). I estimate these chicks are between 4-5 weeks old, based on when we found the nest of eggs and when we discovered that they had hatched. I wonder how long it will be before they will be soaring on the prairie winds like their parents?

On a smaller scale....

...there was a Bullock's Oriole in my birdbath this morning! I've never seen one before! In fact, I didn't even know we had Oriole's, but we seem to be on the very edge of their territory. Not sure why they are here, since, along with bugs which we have lots of, they also love fruit and nectar,  and there is precious little of THAT  around here! But just the same, I was excited! What a great way to start my day! And tomorrow I have to pick up some grape jelly and see if I can entice him to stick around for the summer.