Pale Male and the Octavia Go For It, Clarence the Cooper's Hawk Makes an Appearance, and Quicksilver and Squirrel the Kitten Fight Over the Watering Can

Courtesy of http://www.palemale.com/
Pale Male and Octavia do a little sky courting.

 Al Olson, a newer hawkwatcher in Central Park, reports that copulation is well underway and he has seen Pale Male gift the New Girl with two pigeons and and a squirrel in the last few days.  Al commented,  that she was a "lusty eater".  

Woooo hooo!

All's well so far.  Keep your fingers crossed!

 It was seriously snowing and as is usual in this circumstance the juncos, sparrows, and assorted others were at and under the feeders stocking up.
Some of the larger and more "me habituated" birds were on the back step availing themselves of sunflower seeds not in the sunflower seed feeder.  Even though not one was at that feeder.  What did they know that I didn't?  They were seeking a more sheltered spot to feed?  Better in the weather or was it something else?

I was pleased to see the male Cardinal, as I'd begun to think he'd been lost, not having seen him since the previous snowfall though his mate had been around frequently.

 The Mourning Doves though feeding on the step seemed more vigilant in the direction of the yard than they were about me. 

And there was a sentinel on the wire that Friend often watches from when he's looking out for Doorstep while she feeds.

And there was a timidity about some of the sparrows on the sparrow pile that I found suspicious.  As they appeared suspicious that there was a predator out there somewhere.

The next time I looked most of the female sparrows had disappeared, and the males had congregated at the top of the pile.

Two minutes later when I looked again, guess who was sailing across the back yard from the right and landed neatly on the sparrow pile, now devoid of visible sparrows.

It's Clarence the Cooper's Hawk and he's giving me the eye.  I admit I'm not sure Clarence is male but the other juvenile Cooper's that has been haunting the yard is slightly larger.  We'll go with that.

Plus this hawk, much like Pale Male doesn't seem to mind me  at all. 

He stares at me and I stare at him.

 Then he's back to hunting.

Then the other side.

Then he leans ever so slightly.

And he's off!

He goes for the side perch.

And peers.  There are no doubt rustling sounds coming from the pile and he's hoping to flush someone.  No luck.

He waits.

And watches with intensity.

   Then peruses the entire area.

1:51:23PM And he's off once again.  Note how low he stays to the ground, masked by the rise in the ground and the snow bank.

1:51:24 PM And he stays low though shifting his angle of flight.

  1:51:25 PM Once masked by the boughs he rises slightly for the gap.  These guys are incredibly quick and agile flyers. 

1:51:25PM  He tips sideways past the boughs without dislodging any snow.

1:51:25PM And then the little bugger does a perpendicular turn straight up to who knows where.  Check the times.  The last three moves were all done within one second.

I'm so glad he isn't out to eat me.

QUICKSILVER VS SQUIRREL THE KITTEN 

 Quicksilver was attempting to gain access to the carrousel cupboard.  It is never too early to scout possible nesting cavities just in case a female African Grey happens to wander through the back yard or even the living room come Spring.

11:56:48 AM And Squirrel the Kitten is watching him.  Squirrel is quite partial to cavities himself.  He's constantly being accidentally shut in closets.

Note the bottom of the watering can up center in the photo.  It's about to become important in the next chapter. 

 11:59:05 AM When I returned to the kitchen a little over two minutes later, this is what I found.  They aren't supposed to be doing this.

Exactly how they came to these  positions I'm not sure.  Though Silver often perches on the handle of the can and obviously thinks that Squirrel shouldn't be there. 

(By the way, I've started clipping the tips off Squirrels claws.  Squirrel only does paw play with Silver.  After having his nose sharply pinched by Silver leaping at his face, he keeps his face, and therefore his teeth away from Silver.  It may not seem that way from the photos but I really monitor all this very closely. )

  This is interesting.  When Silver goes into the crouch similar to his position in the water bowl before hopping to the edge and shaking water on the kitten, Squirrel pulls back.

 11:59:13 Silver can't reach Squirrel so as is typical he bites what is handy.  A warning?  Misplaced aggression?  I don't know for sure.  I haven't found a way to test it yet.

 11:59:21 AM  I can't see what Silver is doing back there but whatever it is, the kitten doesn't trust it and pulls half back.

11:59:25 AM The banging starts and Squirrel goes into full retreat.  Silver is banging his beak into the watering can with about an inch of water in it with great force.  It resonates very nicely.  This is an anti-cat trick of Silver's of long standing.

When Silver was only about 6 months old, he got off his perch in the living room while the resident human was in the shower. Bad parrot! Suddenly said human heard a banging on the bathroom door.  The human opened the door and there was Silver with Bowie, one of the NYC cats who was standing a few feet away watching the proceedings. 

Silver learned two things.  If you banged on doors humans opened them and an added plus, that the cat who might be shadowing you was taken aback.   He's used head banging on resonate objects for both ever since.

11:59:26 Silver keeps banging and the kitten retreats even further.

 11:59:32 AM  I say, "Hey guys, what are you doing?" Evidentally neither of them had registered that I was there, so typical to their individual species,  Silver stops and looks at me from behind the side handle wondering what the upshot of my presence will be, i.e. he'll just find himself back on his perch or will this rate a "time out", and Squirrel pretends he had nothing to do with any of it. 
 
And last but not least inn from Robin of Illinois, prosthetic fins for a Loggerhead Turtle after a likely shark attack.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/02/loggerhead-sea-turtle-gets-artificial-flippers-after-shark-attack/

Keep your eyes open you never know what you'll see!
Donegal Browne

Palemale, County M Red-tails, Sheepskin Pond Eagle Nest, Squirrel the Kitten, Doorstep Dove, Ravens, and Richard the III

 Pale Male observes his domain from a railing on the Linda Building photo

 courtesy of www.palemale.com/

Central Park observers report as is typical in February, Pale Male is twigging the nest and working on renovations to the nest for the coming season.  If this year is typical, copulation will begin soon.

 As there had been a massive wind storm and then repeated snow storms within the last few weeks,  I took the opportunity on Friday to check on the Sheepskin Pond Eagle nest.  Rimed with snow but still intact, if the eagle pair chooses their former nest,which they often will, it is waiting for them to return to with the thaw for another season.

And yet another good sign for Spring nest watching, many of you will remember the pair of Red-tailed Hawks who nested in the oak tree surrounded by a field not far off County M, I saw a pair circling above the former nesting area on Sunday. Fingers crossed.

Finally, my camera was at hand when Squirrel the Kitten climbed the patio door.

He gets his claws well dug in.

Then bats at something invisible to non-feline eyes or non-feline imagination.

Ah oh, he begins to slide. 

 Toenails screeching along the wood, he watches as he slides.

His ears flatten out but he doesn't give up the descending view.

His downward momentum increases...

Then he braces his feet, leaps off, and zips away.

On Sunday, Doorstep Dove, as she so often has done in the past, perched watching the sun disappear.  She saw me come to the window and we bobbed heads back and forth.  Then she went back to her watch and as usual flew off last of all the yard birds to roost for the night.  
 

Fascinating article on ravens making language gestures.

by way of Jackie of Oklahoma

http://magblog.audubon.org/ravens-know-how-make-point

Scientists have found that wild ravens make gestures, a feat even most primates can’t manage. What the birds are
 Saying, however, is anyone’s guess.

 Pointing is one of the simplest ways to communicate. In humans, hand gestures are seen as baby-steps in learning language. To some extent, science has long ignored the possibility that the handless members of the animal kingdom could be gesturing, too.

 But after two years observing ravens in the field, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have spotted ravens doing exactly that. They’ve reported their discovery in Nature Communications.

 Raven gestures are targeted to members of the opposite sex and, like a well-timed wink, seem to be an effective way of getting attention. Specifically, the ravens use their beaks to point to or display nearby objects, including rocks, moss, or twigs.

 In an odd twist on more common bird behavior like gift giving, these objects are inedible and once a raven’s caught his partner’s attention, the birds don’t actually do anything with the materials.

 Scientists aren’t really sure what’s going on here. It could be a totally instinctive process, like a mating display, or it could be sophisticated symbolic signaling. Something like, “Did you remember to leave twigs on the nest today?”

 Regardless, the attention to objects is one more clue into the world view of crows and ravens, and—given their impressive tool use abilities—it suggests that like humans, theirs is a material world.

 For more on brainy birds, take a look at our Perch post pitting crows and parrots head to head.

AND They've finally found the remains of Richard the III under the pavement of a parking lot and yes he actually was a "hunchback".  At least Shakespeare is vindicated on that one if not on his personality.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/world/europe/richard-the-third-bones.html?_r=0

My apologies for the lag in blogs of late, I'm having an erratic internet  connection.  Supposedly it is now fixed.  Fingers crossed on that as well.

Donegal Browne 

Quicksilver Bathes in the Cat Bowl

As I mentioned previously I've been down with the flu.  And like all inventive pets the Terrifying Trio of Bad Pets, Quicksilver, Squirrel the kitten, and yes, I'm currently dog sitting Tig the Basinji, (Pyewacket being the only animal currently in the Good Pet category), have been running amuck.

Therefore it was no real surprise that, this morning I struggled out of a decongestant haze, attempting to identify what the sound of splashing and the tink, tink of metal meant.

It meant dear readers that Quicksilver the African Grey Parrot was bathing in the cat's water bowl.

And Silver was in the full throes of bathing frenzy and having a darn good time!

A little tink, tink, tippey toe action before the next plunge. 

Geez!

Ahhhhh...WHAT?

Note that Silver has "red eye" from the flash similar to what happens on occasion with human eyes.  Dogs and Cats tend to go green.

Why the different colors? I've no idea.  Any EYE folks out there?

I crawl out of bed to retrieve him but from the new angle....

I realize there is something different going on all together.  I'm not the only observer.  (Besides the fact that all the splashed water is going to turn the errant litter into congealed mud.)

Squirrel is biding his time...and I've currently run out of steam.

More to Come....

DB