Topic: Saved Hawk

[Jahn]

This late afternoon I helped my neighbor to save a Sparrow hawk that had got stuck in his hedge. It was a difficult situation and my neighbor more or less asked me for help. He had tried to cut away the branches to give it room to move out from the hedge but the bird seemed seriously stuck.

So I entered the scene and had a look at the "patient". I saw that it was terrified of the situation and the close contact with humans, cutting branches right under the nose. So Without being silly, I spoke friendly and said that it was a lovely bird. We had small kids close behind, so this was a adventure for us all. I also said in a calm vioice that I saw a good possibility to release it by only bending the remaining branches to the side and just the same second that we did - it left flying!! I mean it was half upside down in a mess with the hedge and t moved out from the hedge as it was an oiled lightning.

What a relief for us spectators.

[Jennifer-]

Wow! What an awsome encounter you had with such a strong and beautiful bird!

Thanks so much for sharing it here with us, what a blessing 

[Jahn]

Yes Jen,
now I understand a bit more about the fluctuations in the seed consumption at my bird table.

If that Hawk is around once or twice a day I can undertsand that the little sparrows and blue tits keep away. It is cold here now and then the consumption usually goes up but the trend is not linear. I knew something was disturbing the little ones and thought it was my cat, because he get one bird a week or something, but if there are a pair of hawks, that explain more.

Ahh cruel Nature!

[nichi]

First, a happy, soft symphony of birds of all timbres and sizes.
Then, dead quiet, and even in winter you can hear the twigs rustling.
Hawk is here!


Once upon a time, I started getting a pair of titmice coming to my peanut tray outside my front window. It was funny watching them get the peanuts, which were almost as large as they were. And feisty?? Who would ever imagine the loud cries and complaints coming from those little bodies?



Well, one day the hush-of-hawk had fallen over the yard and the surrounding area -- it was so quiet you could hear the heating unit running in the distance, from the house across the street. In flew one of the titmice, and he landed on my windowsill, screaming into the living room his demands....

Swoop! It took one moment, one split second, and sharp-shinned hawk flew in sideways in front of the window and took the noisy titmouse!!

It was horrifying.
It was bloody amazing.

Stop, look, and listen, birdies!!

I had to clean up his remains from the driveway....

[nichi]

Jan, you are a feeder of the birds too ... Interesting the experience, isn't it, of wanting to protect the little ones, yet admiring the hell out of the big ones? And in your case, even saving one?

There was a season where it seemed to be a daily event that one of my birdfriends was some hawk's dinner in the backyard (and there were several hawks working the yard) -- and this even after I had desisted from laying out seed. I became tired of encountering the splattered pin feathers of the dearly departed, and in some instances, looking out the window to see the hawk feasting! Some lesson for me in being the prey and the predator there!

But I finally asked hawk to move on to the other yards, please. Haven't seen one here since!

I suspect, though, that Hawk is one of my allies.

[tommy2]

Just bought another bag of cracked corn today.  I go through several a year plus lotsa other feed stuff they have at the stores.  And this morning I spotted a red tail hawk snatch a pigeon from under the railway overpass diwb tge street.  He just glided right in and left with an early lunch!  Ouch!

Still in the single digits here with word that in a week it'll be in the 20's.  Heat wave!  It always surprises me how the sparrows survive so well out here.  They clutter my 4 feeders now.  Plus 5 - 6 squirrels always competing for the bread, popcorn, etc. I leave out each night. 

BTW, they LOVE  pizza, no matter the topping!

t

[nichi]

Pigeons and mourning doves:: the last to leave in a crisis, and you can imagine what good eating they are for those raptor-guys!

Pizza, pizza, heheh -- yes! One night I opened my back drapes, and there was a raccoon eating a slice, holding it in his hands, munching, and looking up gratefully!! 

(((((((((Jan and Tom and all the Seed and Feed Folk in the World!!))))))))

[Jahn]

We seem to be in the same business  .

Ohh you should see the staring eyes of the hawk when it was stuck, we were close to each other, and I admired the glance of the depth and ruthlessness I had into the hawks eyes. I read it to my bone, the poor state of affairs, and then just let my voice come on calm and telling it - "we are going to set you free". When he/she understood, our bending back the branches was more a gesture than what was physically needed to let it flew off.

I buy tons of seeds and was very lucky when I found out that they sold sacks of sunflower seeds at the super market to a very reasonable price. Sunflower seeds is what most of them species want. Complementary seed of oats and wheat I buy at a farm. And then I mix with seeds of weed and nuts.

[nichi]

Yes about the sunflowers being the favorite! Their next favorite seems to be fine-grain corn!  Both of these are cheaper than the expensive blends you can get.

Neat that you and the hawk had an understanding that you were about to show it the way!!   

[tangerine dream]

Great thread here.   I just came in from feeding the seagulls in my front yard.  Love it!

[Firestarter]

Yeah this is I mustve missed this one - im glad you got the poor fella untangled Jahn!