Sandhill Cranes Gather Their Kind Before the Snow Flies, Catfish Hunt Pigeons, More Adventures of Pyewackit and Squirrel/Cardiac Plus Is it a Sharpie or a Cooper's Hawk

 I heard the readily recognizable sounds of Sandhill Cranes from inside the living room. 

Yes, from inside the house. They are the loudest bird in the Americas and can be heard from two miles away.

  I headed outside and stared  north in the direction of the sound and stared some more.  Not a crane in sight.  I went back inside.

 Then some minutes  later I heard Cranes again this time from the north west.  

 There they were!   Over 50 of them heading SW!  And it was LOUD!

 And then out of the west came 30 or so more.  Also trumpeting.

 Closer.

The cranes then regrouped.  They sort of mingled together almost as if they were seeing individuals they might know and were greeting, then some formed a line and headed out.  While the others mingled momentarily.

A slightly closer view of the proceedings. 

They're all going about organizing themselves and no one ran into anyone else while I was watching.

Then they began to turn into the distance.

After observation they  appeared to be circling, calling, and drifting to collect all the cranes within hearing distance in order to collect all their brethren they could and be on their way before the bad weather closed in.

The photographs don't really do the moment justice.  Try double clicking on the photos to see larger images.

NEXT UP...

 Yes, ladies and gentleman, we are back to the age old question-  Is it a Sharp-shinned Hawk or a Cooper's Hawk?  

This time, check out the captures from a video from a friend of Sally of Kentucky.

What's your take?

 Yes, it is difficult to tell size.  One of the many inconclusive ways to tell these  two species apart.  But from the comparison of the hawk with the leaves on the bushes, it appears smallish to me.  Plus the legs look twig like.

 But then in this frame ,the legs look a little less twig like.

 Wasn't it our raptor man from Ohio, John Blakeman, who said that Sharpies always look kind of bug-eyed and hyper-thyroid?

But Sally of Kentucky, thought the legs seemed thicker like a Cooper's Hawk and I have to admit that the tail in the center photo does look decidedly curved on the end as she suggested.  A rounded tail being a clincher for IDing Cooper's Hawks.

Any thoughts? 

 Photo courtesy of http://news.yahoo.com

A find from Robin of Illinois!  Longtime readers will remember my discovery of city rats hunting pigeons in NYC but this one is even more astounding....European Catfish coming out of the water to nab pigeons.  Click the link below.
 http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/catfish-learning-hunt-pigeons-land-video-231659764.html

Here we have the kitten, Squirrel? Cardiac, playing with a stick jammed in the joint of a canvas camp chair.  See the claws looking a little dangerous?

Check out the instantaneous transformation to Feline from Hell as he spat at visitor Tig the Basenji.  And it truly was instantaneous.  Check out those laid back ears.

A study in cat expressions in the aftermath of a dog.  

One gets the impression that kittens don't hold any one thought for any amount of time. Or really think in a conscious way at all frequently, as they are often totally in the moment.   

Pye on the other hand is definitely holding a grudge.

Donegal Browne