Thursday, June 18, 2015

Pale Male Attempts to Prepare Dinner for Fledglings Part II

 When last we left Pale Male he was attempting to clean prey for the fledglings next meal while being attacked by two Mocking Birds.
It's best to keep your eyes averted while attempting to get the job done.
.Though do keep in mind that part of this "game" is to allow the attackers to become incredibly angry but also overconfident so they can be nabbed for an additional entree.
As you can see the Mocking Birds are beside themselves with rage. I'm told that the pair have a nest nearby.

They aren't giving up.





He's keeping a particular eye on something.
Then back to prep.
Always vigilant.

A feather could lacerate an eye.  His nictitating eyelid has closed.
Another angle but not terrific either. 
 Pale Male begins plucking feathers as the fledglings aren't up to plucking and even opening prey very well on their own yet.

 Feathers are flying all over.  Including some of Pale Male's on occasion.

 And here comes Mocking Bird yet again.

It's getting late so I'll post this while I work on the next section
More to come tonight....

2 comments:

Karen Anne said...

Is that a mocking bird that he has already?

Now I know why sometimes I find a lot of feathers in a smallish area in the yard. I thought they came loose on impact.

Donegal Browne said...

Hello Karen Anne,

The prey involved is a pigeon. I've not seen them take a Mocking Bird. Doesn't mean they don't just that I haven't seen it yet. I suspect that Mocking Birds are tough to catch. Basically, I also think that both Octavia and Pale Male at times make themselves readily available for pestering in order to keep the Mockingbirds and Blue Jays away from the nest and/or the fledglings