Monday, June 27, 2016

Mockingbird and hawk

I bought a bag of mealworms a while ago and I've been putting them out on a tree stump left over from when our 25 year old eucalyptus blew over in a wind storm back in May?  June?   (I forget...).  Anyway, the mealworms disappeared every day and I finally figured out that a mockingbird was eating them.

So, I watched and yup...there he was!  He now enjoys them twice a day.  I went through my first bag and had to make a Walmart run to buy another one yesterday.  I moved the tree stump to where I can observe it and I also put out a shallow bowl of water out under our sumac tree for the birds to enjoy out front.

There are now 2 mockingbirds that come to eat the mealworms.  I think they are mates.  One is smaller than the other one (the female, I believe).  They seem to live across the street as I see them flying over there several times a day.

Anyway, I looked out yesterday and to my HORROR the damn hawk (Cooper's hawk) was standing in the water bowl having sips of water!  AYE!  He stayed for quite a while and kept sipping and dipping.  The male mockingbird landed in the sumac and was scolding the hawk and I watched for a few minutes until the hawk also went up ionto the tree and I went outside.  Hawk flew down the street, all the while being chased by the mockingbird.

I don't mind if the hawk visits the yard IF he doesn't eat the mockingbirds!  He killed my blue jay (remember "Burt" the blue jay?)  Burt visited us for 3 1/2 years until the damn hawk got him.  Now the mockingbirds imitate his calls, so I always have to look and see WHO is making those calls!

Anyway, this morning both mockingbirds are in the yard, taking turns eating the mealworms.  It's a cloudy day here (monsoon moisture is coming up from Mexico), so I was able to go out this morning and rake up piles of mesquite leaves at 6 a.m.

I hope the mockingbirds survive the hawk.  From what I've been reading, they DO chase hawks and they DO seem to survive, so I'll be crossing my fingers.

I got about 20 photos of the hawk, but I don't have a single photo of the mockingbirds.  They are just too fast.

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