Adult WC sparrow in backyard

[Shortsighted]

 I previously reported a White-throated sparrow in the unkempt backyard (no time to kempt it) and it was briefly visited by reinforcements (two more WTS) to battle the belligerent song sparrow that has claimed the yard as its fiefdom. It was odd that the two newly arrived sparrows were of different morph. Dark-morph and light-morph birds generally don’t hang around together. Is this a new era of détente? Despite being out-numbered the song sparrow chased the others away at every opportunity. Now, say here, that’s not cricket, ole-boy.
I stopped supplying seed for a while because the squirrels were just waiting in the wings for me to uncover the platform, or mount the mock tree trunk containing suet. The squirrels climb the arbour and jump onto the platform, or the two meters onto the trunk and go all Genghis Khan. During the seedless interim the squirrels departed and the song sparrow accepted a gig elsewhere, so I decided to remove the platform lid and try again. It took chickadees about 5 minutes to discover it. To my delight a White-crowned sparrow showed up but did not visit the platform. It stayed on the ground. I went out to throw a handful about and sat at the foot of the steps and waited. The WCS returned, but not for long. Where were the squirrels? I could just make out a cloud of dust on the horizon and imagined the order being heralded …. “charge!” Wait, do squirrels use bugles? Nah, must be the wind in the … leafless … trees. Ah, the stirring sound of a bugle that makes me want to inhale deeply, chest expanded and then cough my guts out.



 

[Ally]

What a splendid shot!
I no longer have a feeder, but my neighbour does. On my way back from my quest today, I needed to climb a little hill, and a hawk flew into the thick of the trees and I waited, it waited and a teenage rabbit waited, and about one minute later, it flew out. The Cooper's came to hunt the feeder eaters. But how it decided to fly in right in front of me was so exciting. And the way it maneuver among the branches effortlessly was just breathtaking. So great to see a hunter at work. I don't think it got anything. This time.