Well, here it is mid January of 2010. One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more regularly. Of course, it would help if I had some adventures this year. Last year was mostly about work...but enough about last year.

Of course, the most exciting thing to happen here on Heron Pond was the visits by the bears. After their last appearance on October 5, I reluctantly decided to keep the feeders down until the bears hibernate, which is usually around the first of December. The first came and went, and the feeders were still safely stored in the garage.

On December 9th we had our first big snowfall (9.5 inches) and I thought I'd put the feeders back up the following day. When I glanced out the window first thing in the morning, what did my eyes see? Tracks leading from the back corner of the yard to each of the usual (but empty) bird feeder stations and then disappearing out the front walk. Rather large footprints I might add.

So I waited until around new year's to put the feeders up, and once I did, it wasn't long before the birds started to return. All the usual suspects; Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouses (Titmice?), three species of woodpeckers, goldfinches, and an unusually large number of Dark-eyed Juncos.

With all of this activity, I wondered when the Sharp-shinned or Coopers hawks would show up to feast on the song birds that were feasting at the feeders. And while I had noticed the yard grow totally quiet from time to time, and presumed there was a hawk about, I had yet to see one.

Today was the day.

I had just started to work in my office, and was seeing the usual breakfast bird crew at the feeders outside my office window. All of a sudden there was a flurry of activity, with the little birds scattering in all directions, and a much larger bird landing on the ground  a few feet into the woods. Was it a hawk?

It was, and it had captured a Junco, I think. The hawk stayed in the woods for awhile and then apparently decided it wanted a better view, so it flew up to a branch right along the edge of the woods, to continue its meal. The new perch offered the hawk a better view of its surroundings, which it would check after each bite. The new perch provided me with a better look too, and I was able to go outside and slowly work my way closer, trying to find a angle that would give me a clear image of the bird.

This was about the best that I could do. I was surprised that the hawk allowed me to approach so close (30-40 feet or so) since I'm sure that it was aware of my presence.

I'll save you the gory details, but this whole episode lasted almost 90 minutes.

The yard remained quiet for about an hour, and then slowly the song birds began to return. Suddenly the birds scattered again as the hawk returned. All but his little female Downy Woodpecker, which was apparently too frightened to move.

The hawk hid in the pine tree just off the edge of the yard. The woodpecker didn't move for at least fifteen minutes...it just clung to the suet feeder, hoping it wasn't in the hawk's view. Finally the woodpecker decided to make a run for it, and flew off towards the backyard. The hawk did not follow. Shortly thereafter, a chickadee flew into the pine tree right above the hawk, and though the hawk did see it, the chickadee quickly flew off before it became the hawk's next meal.

The hawk continued to hide in the tree for another hour or so, before finally getting bored and flew off to the west. Later, I went out to see if I could find the remains of the poor Junco. Under the branch where the hawk finished its meal, I found a few feathers that look like Junco feathers to me.

That pretty much sums up the first two weeks of 2010. I wonder what will happen next?