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Thursday, May 11, 2023

Drama in the sky

On April 26 I was enjoying a walk in the back yard under a blue sky when I heard the distant calls of a Red-shouldered Hawk. As it moved nearer I saw that the hawk and an American Crow were attacking a larger bird. It was an adult Bald Eagle. The crow appeared to come in contact with one of the eagle's wing feathers:





Both birds took turns diving at the eagle:


The eagle almost flew upside down to fend off the hawk's attack:



Crows commonly chase larger birds of prey which intrude on their nesting territory, sometimes mobbing them. The hawks likely not only protect their nests, but also their more extensive hunting grounds. 

Early spring avian arrivals have included a pair of Eastern Towhees, large members of the sparrow family. The male towhee perched in a Red Maple which was just leafing out:

Its shrill song sounds like "Drink your tea:"

The female towhee has brown feathers where the male is black:


Gray Catbirds arrived on the first day of May:

During the winter, the local pair of Northern Cardinals competed with each other for food, but now they show greater tolerance. Soon the male will be feeding the female as part of their courtship ritual:

A White-tailed Deer yearling is shedding his dense gray winter fur, which consists of insulating hollow hairs. The  brighter chestnut-red summer coat is starting to show in patches:

A deer triggered our security camera early one morning:

Eastern Chipmunks have emerged from hibernation. I saw the first one on May 4:

Among the very early bloomers along the granite shelf was this low-growing rounded lavender Rhododendron:

Our granddaughter surreptitiously captured this photo of me in the back yard and sent  it with the message, "Wild grandpa in natural habitat:" 

Rainstorm over Hartford before sunset on May 1:

For my reflection meme I must reach 10 years back back to early  on a bright and still morning in Florida on May 19, 2013.  A Great Egret posed, motionless:

This week's header: Sunset storm over Hartford:

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Linking to:




Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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25 comments:

  1. Such a wonderful series of bird images especially the inflight ones

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  2. Wow, Ken! That's an outstanding sequence with the eagle!

    Happy to see "our" winter birds making it to your place to breed. We miss them already.

    Of course, the best image of the bunch is the "wild grandpa"! To which I can relate all too well.

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  3. A lovely selection of photos and the action ones are great, well done. Cheers Diane

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  4. Great photo of the 'Wild grandpa', suits you. Amazing rest of the photos too!

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  5. Your Eagle, Hawk, Crow series is spectacular, Kenneth. You do have a talent photographing birds.

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  6. That first series are fabulous! Great work!~

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  7. Amazing photos of the drama in the sky. Lots of more wonderful photos too.

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  8. The arial acrobatics are amazing, as are your photos!

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  9. Incredible photos of the eagle being chased out of the area by the crow and hawk. I've seen smaller birds chase away hawks where I live.

    Sweet pic of you from the grandchild.

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  10. Very much enjoyed these. Thanks so much!

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  11. I love 'wild grandpa'! Tell your granddaughter thanks for all of us that are happy to see you out doing what you love. The Eagle series is extraordinary! Enjoy your weekend!

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  12. Those Bald Eagle shots are just amazing. It's great to see the difference in size between it and the others.

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  13. Hi Ken, these are extraordinary photos. I didn't think that two birds as different as the crow and the hawk would attack an eagle together. All photos are again very beautiful, especially the sky. I like your granddaughter's amusing comment. Kind regards and thanks for the link to Nature Thursday.
    Elke

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  14. The eagle and hawk photos are amazing!

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  15. Hello :=)
    Amazing shots of the Eagle, being attacked by the Hawk and Crow, what a spectacular sighting and wonderful photos. All your photos are delightful nature images. Thank you!

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  16. These are fantastic pictures! Wow, the eagle battle is incredible!

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  17. I'm glad you explained why the 2 birds were attacking the bald eagle. I would have thought they wouldn't because of his size. Shows what I know. Beautiful photos as always

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  18. What a beautiful set of photos I thoroughly enjoyed them :-)

    Have a dramatastic week 👍

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  19. Hello, Ken
    What a great series on the Eagle and Hawk. A cool experience to watch. Beautiful birds and photos. Love the cute deer! A great photo of you in action.
    Sorry, I am late commenting! Thanks so much for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great day and the rest of the week! PS, thank you for leaving me a comment!

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  20. I enjoyed your depiction of story through images, rhododendron is one of my favorite flower. Thanks for sharing with Garden Affair.

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