A BIG visitor to the bird feeder

Early yesterday morning I was making my first cup of coffee when I spotted something BIG coming in for a landing on top of the 4x4 that our bird feeders are mounted on. Before it registered with me what was going on, an enormous hawk dropped down and perched on top of the post!

That thing was easily a foot tall, if not bigger. I've seen it several times cruising through the yard looking for a quick snack, and I've seen it miss and land in the yard empty-taloned (I've also seen it and its friends hunting in the fields and snatching up little furry critters). But that was the first time I've ever seen it sitting on top of the feeder post!

The funny thing is, my husband had mounted a flat piece of lattice work on top of the post. It's a roof of sorts, to hopefully protect the little birds from being attacked while they're eating. Looks like that plan worked really well at scaring away hawks.

Oh, I would have loved to see the little ones learning to fly!

Guess what? The hawk came back a few minutes ago. It landed on the power line that runs to the house and sat there looking at me through the window! That was cool. It was close enough so that I got a real good look at its face--the yellow band of skin across the beak, the markings on its head, everything. Cool.

Maybe Joanne (jdkiggins) will drop in and tell us about the hawks she sees. There are tons of them around her place!

That's amazing! The woodpecker was communicating with your mom. It must have worked--she put more birdseed out. lol!

Wild birds are so smart. Whenever 'ours' run out of favorite seeds in the feeders, or if somebody is hogging everything and won't let anybody else eat, one or more will come tap at the windows until I go see what they need. They even come to the right room and peck at the window nearest me!

Hmm...that might not be a good thing. They know how to find me.

You know, I think rats can get just about anywhere! I watch them through binoculars sometimes and they're kinda cute, in a weird sort of way. (Where's Rattitude?? I know she loves rats! Did we lose her in the last blackout?)

Deborah, the funny thing was, when the hawk was on the power line awhile ago, there were THREE doves on the line, too! Must have been a cease fire or something.

Jenna, can't wait to see your picture!

OMG! I can make out the head pretty well! In the upper right, I can see the white of its head and the shape of its beak. Cooool.

I don't remember ever being that close to an eagle. How awesome. And artsy.

Hiya, ratti! Thought you might be interested in this.

I didn't know that mice always have a second nest. That's pretty smart.

Hi, Jo! Sorry to keep you up.

Thanks for posting those pictures! They're incredible. Wow. Just wow.

My goodness! I'd love to see that! What part of Florida was that, Joanne?

Sorry, you can answer this tomorrow. Get some sleep.

Thanks for the pictures, Jo! Incredible.