Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Steven Hawking

Here in out own little corner of heaven, in the middle of the city, so center of the city it is named "Mid-City West" we have a thriving wildlife population. Raccoons, squirrels, possum, our koi pond, many little song birds and now... the hawks.
Last year we noticed one hawk. When he would fly overhead the entire yard would go eerily silent. This year, he has returned and brought with him a mate.
They are very bold, not very afraid (why should they be?) and like to bathe in the stream leading to the koi pond. I know they see our bird feeder as a tasty buffet. Lyle says it's all just a part of nature but I am no fan of witnessing the circle of life from a front row seat.

A couple of days ago, I was lying in bed reading and there was a flutter of wings as both hawks flew straight for the house, then pulled up short and landed on the sun umbrella on the back deck, leading me to scream, "Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy SHITTTT!" Because I was certain the flimsy screen between me and the outside world would be no match for the talons of these birds and they would soon be creating my own personal version of "The Birds" in my bedroom.

Lucky for me, they prefer smaller prey.
It's a crazy world I live in.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

First of all, they are beautiful! Second, you don't have small dogs like me so think of them as natural mice and small rodent pest control. Third, if you are ever worried about birds flying into your windows the best thing to do is put decals on your windows - then they will not think it is clear airspace and will not fly into it. Here is a link to some: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=9089+20769+13244&pcatid=13244
(www.drsfosterandsmith.com click on wild birds and then window decals).

Cheryl said...

Damn, Dude, you are SO out there.

A Lewis said...

I love being that close! We have tons around our area but I don't believe I've ever had them THAT close. I did have two in my front tree years ago.

Gilda said...

Amazing pictures of the hawks. Truly amazing.

Jules said...

Oh Wow!! Well, with those things around, you wont need to worry about raccoons getting into your garbage at night.

Stephen said...

Wildlife in the city (& I thought west Hollywood had the wild life)!

Our garden In Portland is mere blocks from the convergence of the Willamette River & the mighty Columbia. The Columbia slough is in walking distance, with eagles, osprey, beavers, & otters. We have spotted a red tail hawk in our garden & we once had a bald eagle eyeing the Jack Russell from the top of a tall white pine.

Do you ever get rattle snakes?