Family Affair

Got some good shots of ALL the birds tonight!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Peek-a-boo, I see you too mama!

Twinsies!

Did you hear that?

Dad was nearby too, sounding the alarm about the weird human laying in the yard taking photos.

Hello, Little Chick!

We have a baby hawk! Just one, as far as we can tell.

We had lost hope that we had any eggs left in our hawk's nest. In late June, the adults were still around, but not sitting on the nest and we couldn't see anything in there anymore. Today Husband said he saw something, and sure enough it was a fluffy white head!

Mom (or Dad) was nearby and squawking plenty as I roamed around the yard to get a few shots. This helped us finally get a good look at one of the adults.

Looking forward to seeing the little one grow!

Backyard Resident

I can't think of a better reason to break blog silence than to tell you about a new resident to our backyard.

For a few years we've observed hawks in our neighborhood, and recently have been hearing some out-of-the-ordinary bird noises. On May 2, Lucy and I were playing soccer in the backyard  and saw a hawk swoop above us and land in one of our trees. After some closer inspection, it appeared to be sitting on a branch next to a nest, or at least a good start to one. A couple more days of watching, and we observed a pair of hawks, and witnessed the bird(s) carrying sticks to add to the sculpture. Definitely some nest-building going on!

After consulting some reputable websites, we suspected that what we had was a Broad-winged Hawk. We sort of got a look at it, but the key was the very distinct call. Through our research we've learned that Broad-wingeds don't usually nest close to humans, so we're very honored this pair chose our Silver Maple!

The past few days one of the birds has been sitting on the nest quite regularly, so we suspect there may be a few eggs. There's quite a racket when one of them is hungry or needs a break from all that sitting. The incubation period is 28-31 days, and while we're not sure exactly when any eggs were laid, we suspect it was within the past week...so we might get a glimpse of some chicks in 3 weeks or so! We're having fun watching them, and have a decent view of the nest from our deck (click on photos to enlarge).

A flurry mid-flight! This was in the nest-building phase. 5-2-15.

Here you can see the banding on the tail,
which provides further confirmation this is a Broad-winged Hawk. 5-3-15. 

Do you spy something looking at me? 5-20-15.

Anyone out there hatch hawks in your backyard? Any tips?

Step Inside My Snow Globe

This morning Lucy and I were heading out of the house to get to daycare. She was being her typical putzy self, and I was being my typical impatient self. Mornings are my most difficult time of day, because it seems that each one is a struggle – she wants pancakes instead of cereal, she doesn’t want to get dressed, she doesn’t want those socks, she didn’t make it to the bathroom in time, she wants a barrette, she doesn’t want a barrette…you get the idea. It takes forever to get out the door, and it is infinitely frustrating.

So back to this morning. We were actually on time heading out the door. A small miracle, so I was determined for it to stay that way. We usually go through the garage, but this morning I had gone to the gym early and just parked my car in the driveway, so we went out the front door. Naturally, Lucy had to inspect everything on the front steps, while I am putting the stuff in the car, trying to hurry her along. It wasn’t happening. She was standing in the yard, looking around, paying no mind.

When I realized she wasn’t budging, I resigned myself to having to trudge up the yard from the driveway and go get her. Time was a-wasting.

As I walked up my gaze fell on the top of the bare lilac bushes, and I spied a flash of red. “Look, Lucy – a cardinal!” She couldn’t spot it, so I crouched down beside her and pointed it out. “It’s a boy one!” she said. We have a male/female pair that visits our yard from time to time, and we had just seen them both the other day and talked about how the red one was a boy and the brown one was a girl (ah, the cruelties of nature…). Lucy continued to look around and said, “Mommy, lookit!” She was pointing up the big ash tree, where I saw a little nuthatch staring at us. He is a frequent visitor to our feeder by the big window. “Cool!” I said. I looked around more myself, and I spotted little chickadees flitting around, and some juncos darting through the bushes. Snow had just started falling – that dizzy sort of snow that seems to float about with no urgency, and lands lightly on you, leaving hardly a trace. Crouching there in the yard at 7:30 in the morning with my daughter, snow falling, birds chirping…it was a rare moment of peace.

There are times I feel like my snow globe is constantly being shaken – always moving, no time, chaos… but it occurred to me that when I take time to just STOP – even for a moment…I notice so much more. Things come alive. I feel more at peace. And you know what? I was five minutes later for work. And the world didn’t end.

Sometimes it takes that same stubborn little girl who frequently shakes it up, to take the globe and SET.IT.DOWN. Take a look around and just be. Thanks again, Lucy.