One of the many things I've learned from long-sitting in the backyard is that when I hear a lot of one kind of birdsong across days and weeks, it generally means a nest of that species is nearby. First, it's the bravado of the male to attract a mate, then comes the bravado of the male as he protects his nest, (Is there a human likeness, here?), and finally, the bravado of the young as they learn the ways of the world.
Bluebirds, with their quiet murmurs, are an exception. The house wren's bubbly gurgle is the most stunning example, and the first to teach me the rule of thumb---but also true of cardinals, nuthatches, finches, and I'm guessing, many others.
So, it was with eerie expectation that I began to notice, in mid-July, a regular and pervasive whistle of hawk overhead. Earlier in the spring, before the leaves were out, I had noticed what I thought was a Cooper's, but think now must have been a broad-winged hawk, sounding a forlorn whistle repeatedly from the tall oak tree in my neighbor's side yard. I had also taken a snapshot of several large sloppy nests in the surrounding trees that I had presumed were the fickle work of squirrels.
Looking back, I think one of them belonged to that hawk I had observed, because one day late in July, two young broad-wings and their whistles paid me a long visit in and around the trees in the backyard. I couldn't get very close with my little Nikon Coolpix, but if you look carefully, you can see them both on the same branch in the blurry shot. Click on any of them for a closer look.
My good neighbor, Maureen, above whose house the nests are, sent me two photos she took in her front yard of an adult with a fresh kill. She said it stayed long enough for her to go in for her camera and return to creep up close for the Kodak moment. She's a far better photographer than I. Her hawk's tenaciousness, I think, is another indication that it might have been feeding young in the treetop. Notice the furry tip of squirrel tail behind her hawk to get a hint at what the feast was.
Maureen and I have decided it must surely be a good and protective omen to have a pair of hawks choose one's house above which to build their nest. dkm
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| Whose nests? |
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| Young Whistler |
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| Whistler's Brother |
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| Twins |
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| Whistler's Mother? |
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| Maureen's Protector |
