BIRD BRAINS....

Over the past 19 years (gasp, YES, we've been in Campbell River, B.C. for that long!) these are some of the birds visiting my back yard.  I have a great view of the mountains, the rainforest, valley, and these birds ...

Black headed Grosbeak

"I would like to paint the way a bird sings...:" -Claude Monet

Nest gathering

"By coming and going , a bird weaves is nest.." -Ashanti

Mr. and Mrs. Finch

"You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams..." 

                                                                                                                 -Haruki Murakami

White crowned Sparrow

"Tomorrow the birds will sing. Be brave. Face life..."

                         - Charlie Chaplin

Dove grey, always together...

"After the sharp-eyed Jay and the roaring Lion, peace will come on dove's gentle wing..." -Erin Hunter

Stellar Jay

"Nothing but the silence of the tree, and then he is gone.." -Mary Oliver

Annas Hum Hum

"Powered by its own life and its own motivation..." -Abdul Kalam

Flicker

"The birds of heavens dwell in the trees.." - Psalm 104:12

Grackles "Cowbirds"

"If birds glide for long periods of time, then why can't I?"_Orville Wright

Pileated Woodpecker

"A woodpecker's drilling Echoes to the mountain clouds.."

                                                   -Dakotsu lida

Towhee

"I like the idea of taking off like a bird...." -Florence Welch

baby sparrow, I believe...

"Are you my mother?" -P.D. Eastman

Varied Thrush

"Every spring I hear the Thrush singing in the glowing woods...." - Mary Oliver

Robin red breast

"The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off." -F. Hodgson Burnett

American goldfinch

"Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven."-Francis Beaumont

Cooper's Hawk

"Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, bright the hawk's flight on empty sky..." -Ursula K. LeGuin

                     FLY...............

Pine Siskins

"I wake up every morning, free as a bird..." - Ashley Cole

Rufous Hum Hum

"I'm youth. I'm Joy..." - James M. Barrie


                                                          Eagles

“The Eagle does not escape the storm. The Eagle simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It spreads its mighty wings and rises on the winds that bring the storm.” – Jack White

Photographs 2025 All photos taken in Campbell River, B.C.
 

DINNER with a RAPTOR

"Anyone who has stopped to watch a hawk in flight will know that this is one of the natural world's most elegant phenomena..." -John Burnside

Dinner time. Lunch time. Any time. For the Cooper's hawk.

Out of the forest. Over the houses it comes. Smack! Collides with prey in the air. Shrieks  stifled instantly.

Then the raptor proceeds to rip it apart.

Feathers. Wings. Torn limb from limb. Fresh.

"The sparrow flying behind a hawk thinks the hawk is fleeing.." 

                           -Japanese Proverb

Rip innards.

Pounce on the body.

"A hawk kills because it is his nature......a man kills because it is his pleasure..." -Darkovan Proverb

See what is left behind.

Slurp up the last parts.

Still warm.

Tasty.

"The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak and stared with his foot on his prey..." -Tennyson

All that is left.....

Are the beak and the feet....

Hum Hum Hummer stays behind and watches. He is much to fast for the hawk.

As does Cordelia. She is much too big for the hawk. And the hawk  gets ready. Another meal awaits...

"Only in silence the word, only in dark the light,only in dying life; bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky." -Ursula K. Le Guin

Photographs 2021
 

COOPER's HAWK on the HUNT...

 “The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

 Cooper's Hawk hunting again in the back yard. Swoosh.

 Likes the perch near the fence.

 Turns its head all around. Listening. Watching.

 Eventually  skims over the ground to snare its prey. Suddenly. Quietly.

 Cooper's hawk is a small hawk. About the size of a raven. It only weighs about 1 pound.The male is smaller than the female. He weighs  about 25 oz. with a wingspan up to 37 inches.

 Tends to only catch creatures under a pound: Birds of different sizes, chipmunks, small squirrels, mice, bats, reptile, bugs.

 Contrary to popular belief it does NOT go after cats .  The bigger raptors like Red tailed hawks, eagles, Owls, will  definitely  go after pets. But the Cooper's hawk is more the size of a large chicken, with a long tail.

That being said, it has been noted that one of these hawks may attack and eat a larger mammal on the ground., if they are desperate. Just depends. I have never seen one of them go after the neighbourhood cats. I think it would be wise to supervise pets if you can. 

 When nesting, the Cooper's Hawk will bring  food to its mate, for at least a month before she lays eggs, about 50 feet above ground.

 The young hawks will leave the next after 4 weeks.

 Their call sounds like :  "kak-kak-kak"

 One of these hawks can eat up to 12% of its body weight....kind of like a 120 pound person eating up to five pizzas in one day.

And they can fly up to 88km kmh. Their wings are silent. Soft and  there is no sound to hear.

This one sat on his perch and the fence for quite a time.

It was hunting doves that were hiding on the other side of the fence.

At one point it looked over the fence to have a look. and then it was all over and the hawk  swished away  silently on the wind.....

 Photographs 2020