February 29, 2008
Backyard tip of the week:Along with sunlight, color is sometimes scarce during the winter months. The outdoors these days is comprised of mostly grays, browns and beiges, blacks and whites, with a hint of green, here and there. Look to your backyard friends for a colorful addition to your day. Catching a glimpse of a sky blue jay, a flash of yellow and red from under the wing of a blackbird, the fire engine red of a woodpecker, or the brilliant red of a cardinal can quickly brighten your spirit and find you smiling. Try it, you're sure to love it! Backyard sightings for last week:
Including northern cardinals, dark-eyed juncos, and Carolina wrens. White-throated sparrows, eastern goldfinches, house finches and purple finches. Red-bellied woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches. The tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, blue-jays, American crows, just a couple of grey squirrels, the neighborhood skunk and a wandering raccoon. Many European starlings, common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, and mourning doves.
Cool sighting of the week:
Happened on Sunday when a local red-tailed hawk was caught on video camera during his lunchtime attack. Standing out in contrast to the newly fallen snow, the hawk was seen afterward, resting on the ground with his prey as the blue-jays continued to sound their alarm. This time a European starling was his victim. The hawk took off a couple of minutes later, flying low across the yard and up into the trees, its prey now subdued and held tightly in its talons. The remaining backyard birds continued to call for some time as a large crow was the first to return to the feeders. It perched atop the peanut feeder and stayed there for some time, seeming to wait patiently until the other birds returned, it then grabbed a peanut and flew away. A backyard red-tailed hawk sighting and a protective American crow, now that's really cool!
© 2008 BackyardTV.com