June 29, 2011

More Birds

On a Lake Mountain ride, this pretty little hawk, a female kestrel, flew from tree to tree, keeping a close eye on us.  Kestrels make their nest in a tree cavity.  Perhaps she had a nest nearby.
While driving up to the Pigeon Water trailhead for another ride, Steve spotted a flicker flying away from a half-dead narrow leaf cottonwood.  We stopped for a look, and sure enough, we found a cavity in that tree, and baby birds inside. 
These were starting to grow feathers, so they were a little older than the buzzing babies in the nest we visited on Pole Mountain.  (These also buzzed when we knocked against the tree.) Since this cavity nest is so easy to reach, maybe we can follow up in a couple of weeks with another photo.
The flicker mama was anxiously waiting for us to leave, so we obliged.
Back at home, our hay was cut and baled last week.  Several field mice bit the dust in the cutting. 
I was looking out the window and saw a hawk on the ground picking at his lunch, probably one of those mice.  I'm guessing it's a Swainson's hawk, from the size and coloring.  Do you agree?
Oh, look, I see something else out in the field.  Another hawk?  Well, no, but it would probably enjoy a mouse just the same.

18 comments:

  1. Great pics. I've found that taking good pics of birds in the wild takes a lot of patience.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have yet to snag a kestrel picture. Very nice. You are a pro at these baby-birds-in-a-nest photos. Excellent. Only bad thing is, we expect follow-up photos now. You are creating work for yourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice how you recycled the mice! Did Daisy feel left out?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great pics Janie. Those babies sure look hungry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are surrounded by wonderful critters both big and little, Janie.. lucky you!

    happy trails and tales,
    Pan

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful bird sightings and loved all the pictures, especially the ones of the little baby birds.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those are some naked ugly babies. lol They must be brand new. It seems like yesterday that the mockingbird babies hatched, and now they look like adults with short tails. The kestrel is so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The babies all "buzzing" in the nest are so cute, even without feathers. Never found a nest like that with little ones. Nice find.

    ReplyDelete
  9. more naked birds....great shots...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great bird sightings and I love the kitty too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Catching up with you, Janie. What great baby bird photos again - Steve is getting good at peeking in the nursery! One less mouse might not be too bad... Hope you have a great 4th weekend. Looks lush there in UT!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice bird sightings, and hearings.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Cool find, the flicker nest. They sure depend on those old cottonwoods for nesting.

    ReplyDelete
  14. nice baby bird find! and I guess it's a swainsons, though I'm not the best on hawk IDs.
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great sightings - in particular the kestrel. I've only seen a kestrel that was in wildlife rehab, never one out in the wild. Amazing, they are!

    ReplyDelete
  16. More baby birds!!!!!! So cute...well, kinda cute. :)
    I think that kitty should be aware of the hawks as well. right???

    ReplyDelete
  17. great pictures Janie and I love that last one *hehehe*

    We saw a red-tailed hawk and a golden eagle while camping this week. alas no pictures :/

    ReplyDelete
  18. You've found some great nests this year! That hawk is really, pretty, too.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin