A different Northern Harrier came to the yard this weekend. It was smaller than the one that usually comes for lunch. This one slid into the area where the birds eat seeds off the ground, like he was sliding into home plate. All the birds hid. For the next hour the Harrier ran around the yard like a chicken. He wasn't going to leave without eating. So he stepped things up. He dove into one of the bushes around the yard. Most of the birds have homes in these shrubberies. They all hide in them when predators come. After some rustling. He burst out of the foliage talons full of bird. It was a Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Eastern Towhee, a migrating bird, who just arrived to stay for the winter. It seemed rather brutal. It is one thing to swipe a bird from a common eating spot, but going into the home, the safe place and just taking one...wow! He must have been very hungry.
No comments:
Post a Comment