Hawkeye Linda

When we drove across the country, Linda didn't see a thing. I always kid her about not seeing anything. I guess I'll have to stop that. Tonight I arrived home from work, and as I got out of the truck, I heard Linda say, "come back here."

I thought to myself, "what's happened in the back yard, now?"

As I approached the fence, Linda pointed to the power pole and said, "look at the bird." There was the neighborhood hawk.

I quickly made my way to the house for the camera. This guy didn't seem to be to pestered by me getting close. He also didn't seem too annoyed by the daring little Mockingbird at first. The little one would swoop down, and the Hawk just gave a a glance that said, "get real."

The Mockingbird would sit on a wire for a little while to gather her wits, nerve, or strength and have another go at the Hawk. She got a little too close and caused the Hawk to ruffle his feathers.

I just stood below the two of them, enjoying their show. Linda finally understood why I'm late for work in the mornings. I told her I see stuff like this all the time, but the lighting stinks. Then the Mockingbird got a little too close to the Hawk, and they moved their show further down the road. Yes, that crazy Mockingbird followed the Hawk.

Mornings in the Backyard

Mornings aren't always the best time to take pictures. It seems the wild life has a habit of being in front of the sun, or the sun is just coming up. To sum it all up, it just means bad lighting.

Sometimes it's amazing that I make it to work. I sit outside and watch the birds and squirrels. The day I took the picture of the hawk, I was surprised that the birds didn't go into hiding. The jays were dive bombing him, and the Mockingbird was harassing a squirrel.

This morning a wood pecker decided to sit on the power line. The one of the backyard Mockingbirds didn't like it, and tried to pick a fight.

Speaking of Mockingbirds, there is a campaign to replace them as state bird with the Osprey. I like Osprey, but I think the Mockingbird should stay. One will get up in the elderberry tree and imitate the frogs. I've also seen a pair dive bomb a cat that got to close to their nest.