There is a Cooper's Hawk in the trees right of center. I wouldn't have known either but I saw her fly into the trees from the feeder area carrying a House Sparrow.
Nature taking it's course but I'm just as happy as a flock of approximately 73 House Sparrows has taken over the feeder area on this side of the house and they have run off all of the native birds.
I've never had that happen before. In my previous experience the House Sparrows and native birds coexist at the feeders. Not this group.
The Cooper's eats her snack.
She checks me out.
Then she's back watching the feeding area.
She hides her face behind the orange leaf and peers at the feeding area.
Cooper's preens her chest.
Then she's back staring at the sparrows.
Next up-Butch the opossum
Butch arrived tonight circa 2:15 AM in the rain. He was just finishing lapping up the sugar water in the shredded carrot bowl when I discovered him. He then chewed a strip of sweetened carrot.
Note how the longer coarse hairs of his coat catch and hold the rain drops.
He then lifted his nose and headed for the peanut butter jar. While we're thinking about it, look at his nose. As Opossum's have out of the usual mammal characteristics so goes their noses. Their noses are open on the sides.
Butch took one lick of the peanut butter...
...grabbed the jar by the rim and walked off right. Just as he disappeared into the dark I heard the cracking of plastic. Butch was off for a tasty peanut butter treat.
Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne
Back at the opossum buffet, the sun is setting but still no action.
10:37 PM I peered out the window, Butch the male possum had arrived and had eaten the meat, potato, and toast. I ran back to get my camera.
Suddenly there was fierce barking right outside the window. In the 20 seconds I was gone the neighbor's dog had arrived and was harassing Butch. Butch was stock still peering at the dog from his higher perch by the window and the neighbor was screaming at her dog from her back porch.
It was mayhem.
I ran out my back door and shooed the dog away.
Butch was gone. Pinky if she was around had made herself scarce.
Next day I went back to just straight bird seed mix, sunflower seeds, and a few slices of orange.
New Rule. Nothing on the buffet that might attract neighborhood dogs or cats.
Yes I know it rather screws up the range of possible food items but better that then tempting the opossums in as well as any free range neighborhood carnivores.
DRAT!
Butch arrives and begins methodically chowing down on seed.
Note that Butch could care less about me or the flash on the camera.
Squirrel the cat arrives, takes one look at Butch....
...
...and begins scratching at the window like a mad thing.
He doesn't care about Squirrel either. Butch just keeps chewing. Turns out opossums are rather smart and particularly bright when it comes to mazes for instance.
And they have definitely figured out window glass.
And though there is plenty of seed on the lower level Butch keeps eating the seed that is the closest to the window.
One can just hear him thinking Na na Na na Nah!
This makes Squirrel even more berserk!
Eventually Butch has his fill and ambles down to the Crow stump to check out the pickings there. Evidently not enticed he gives me a parting look, gets down off his haunches, ambles under the fence and is gone for the evening.
Butch is definitely no push over.
Donegal Browne
It occurred to me that as Opossums eat almost anything and we know they like sunflower seeds, what might their other favorites be?
Therefore as I was cleaning out the refrigerator and cupboard I selected some possible foods for Pinky to choose between.
Far left are some meat scraps and a left over portion of baked potato. Next are some cheese crackers still in the wrapper?
Do possums remove wrappers? Another question...though if they don't like old cheese crackers the wrapper thing isn't relevant to the test.
Next pasta salad which does not include any meat or cheese.
Then there is a pile of matzah flour and a partially eaten piece of toast.
That done and as it was a bit after 3PM and it doesn't get dark until around 4:30 PM the first possible time for Pinky the possum to appear, I decided to check out what other critters might be around.
Across the street in the park were a flock of Canada Geese just standing around for the most part looking toward the Mill Race which comes off the Sugar River.
Mill Race? It isn't a natural body of water. Back in the day it was dug by hand to power the town mill.
The water fowl don't give a fig if it is natural or not. It's a water area that has been naturalized by being around for a couple of hundred years.
They decide I'm not too scary and start to do a little preening and a desultory nibble at the grass or an insect.
And here is what they've been keeping track of, the rest of the flock who are swimming around on the Race.
No action here so perhaps I'll go check and see if the Cooper's Hawk who has been stealthing around my feeders for the past few days is back waiting for feeder customers.
By the time I cross the street, the lead geese are up and honking calling to the others that it is time to get moving.
The group is forming up amidst a tremendous amount of honking. Wouldn't want anyone to be left behind. They begin to circle.
And around they go with a tremendous cacophony
Back at the feeding station, nothing has been touched.
Is the Cooper's around?
There's movement in the Ponderosa Pine!
Nope, not a hawk but rather a squirrel.
Sigh. I head into the house.
It gets dark. I keep checking out the window.
No possum.
8 PM, 9, 10.... Still no possum. Is it going to be another 3:45 in the morning feeding?
To be continued
