I birded my yard this morning, something I don't do often enough. (It's sort of like "No one is a prophet in his own village." Why are other places always more attractive? I did see a blue-gray gnatcatcher in our front yard the other day.) I found this robin's nest in plain sight in the tree closest to our garage. What fun! I'll keep you posted on the progress of the kids!
Around noon, we walked down to the hawk's nest. For about twenty minutes, all we could see was her tail. 
She seemed to shift around a lot, as if something under her was making her uncomfortable. We finally decided that was all we were going to see. So we took the camera off the scope, took the scope down, and started to walk away. We were 20 yards away when we heard the call of an incoming hawk and rushed back. From what we saw, we think it was a food drop off. For awhile, the hawk left in the nest kept looking down, as if watching the kids eat. Then she clearly began eating, tearing pieces off. Periodically she would give us the "hawk eye". I managed to get this pretty good picture of her before she settled down and all we could see was her tail again.
All pictures with my Canon 10D mounted on my Swarovski 65HD, 800mm adaptor
She seemed to shift around a lot, as if something under her was making her uncomfortable. We finally decided that was all we were going to see. So we took the camera off the scope, took the scope down, and started to walk away. We were 20 yards away when we heard the call of an incoming hawk and rushed back. From what we saw, we think it was a food drop off. For awhile, the hawk left in the nest kept looking down, as if watching the kids eat. Then she clearly began eating, tearing pieces off. Periodically she would give us the "hawk eye". I managed to get this pretty good picture of her before she settled down and all we could see was her tail again.
All pictures with my Canon 10D mounted on my Swarovski 65HD, 800mm adaptor
Hopefully more later!
5 comments:
Wow, a hawk nest in the yard. How high up is it? Are you in an area that is sort of rural?
I was just in a small town in Wisconsin. I enjoyed the bird songs there and I could see a variety of birds from the window. There is a sort of marsh and creek behind the house. The leaves were half grown so I could get glimpses of warblers, but hardly enought to identify them.
The grass is always greener, the sky bluer, the birds better somewhere else! While I do most of my birding outside of my yard I do not neglect it either. I have a yard list this year of about 60 speices including a Chestnut-sided Warbler, which must be my all time best yard bird.
Vern
That's great to have a nest like that in your yard!-It must be nice to just walk out your back door to do some birding.
Sorry I mislead you all-the hawk nest is about 3/4 of a mile down the street in a little neighborhood park in the middle of our northern VA suburb. The robin's nest is in the yard, though.
Vern--
Wow! 60 birds this year! Your comment has made me realize I am indeed neglecting my yard. So I birded the yard a little this morning and added a house wren (lifer!) and a red-eyed vireo to the list. I have a life yard list of 41 birds, including the two today and the blue-gray gnatcatcher and common yellowthroat I added earlier in the month. My yard bird criteria is the same as my life bird criteria--I have to see it the first time in order to add it. After that, hearing it is OK. Also, if I can see it from the yard, I can count it. Best yard bird? The male wood duck that perched in a tree in the neighbor's yard. http://birdlist.blogspot.com/2005/04/wood-duck-alexandria-va.html
Thanks for reminding me to bird near as well as far!
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