Well we certainly had an exciting visitor this morning. I was barely awake, just getting dressed to go out and feed, when I glanced out the window and saw what was clearly a bird of prey doing the do-si-do on top of my chicken pen!

I told the hubby to grab his camera and hurriedly finished dressing to get outside before the situation deteriorated – to put it mildly. The rooster was NOT AMUSED and was raising all kinds of hell. At first I thought this was a falcon from his size and the long tail – but as we got closer (and he allowed us to get surprisingly close) I decided it seemed to be a very young hawk.

When we got inside we dug through the bird books. We’ve concluded he was a juvenile Sharp Shinned Hawk – described in my book as a “fiesty, bird eating hawk”. Yep – feisty is a good description of the way he was jumping up and down on the top of my chicken coop, trying to force his way in. However, I don’t think he was actually after my chickens. Even the hens are bigger than he is. Rooster Sunny would have given him quite a battle, I have no doubt. I think THIS was his original target…

One of the many Eurasian ring-necked doves that regularly drop by to steal chicken feed and nest in our trees. Now and then one actually gets into the chicken pen. I think this guy probably dove in on purpose to avoid the hawk – and then found himself most uncomfortably trapped while the hawk tried to find a way in.

Looks like migration season has started here. There was a yellow-headed blackbird in the chicken pen earlier this week and the Scaled Quail have gathered themselves into one large flock for the winter. In the summer they run around in small family groups. We get all kinds of birds of prey during migration and also during the winter when the high desert remains more hospitable than the surrounding mountains. The hubby (who took these photos) has a new camera to play with, so I will probably have lots of wild bird photos to share.

As long as he was out there this morning, he also got a photo of one of the ravens who frequent the ranch.

A much larger hawk landed on a power pole over at the neighboring ranch. Although the new camera has a much better zoom than the old one – we still couldn’t get a good enough photo for identification. It is also a little overcast today, so the lighting doesn’t help. I suspect this is a Swainsons – just because there has been a Swainsons that sits on this pole for the last couple years we’ve been here.

I feel as if I missed the entire spring and summer on the ranch. I had that job with those crazy hours, and then all the ruckus when my roomie was ill. So I am really looking forward to bird watching this migration season. Get myself back in sync with my beloved desert.

Right now, my focus is the 3 Day Novel over Labor Day weekend. Just two more days to prepare and finish the requisite background and research for my novel. My case of cold feet has traveled all the way up to the tips of my fingers and roots of my hair! I’m headed out now to go to town and do a little grocery shopping – lots of Red Bull, coffee, and finger food.

***deep breath**** I can do this…

Didn’t find what you needed? Try a search: