Octopus Overlords

First, a hawk flew by, here's a screen grab:



And another short video of bluejays and mockingbirds enjoying the new bath.

Just a short video this time, 1:46 of a hawk sitting on the railing then leaving. That's it, nothing exciting, at no time does Hawkie (I call all hawks Hawkie) do anything exciting. It must be because it's a Saturday, not much going on.

Last summer we had an immature hawk stand in our bird bath for well over an hour. Just looking around. And enjoying the cool fee, I suppose.

It was pretty awesome.

Also had one (possibly the same one?) sit on the back fence for a couple of hours, and one hang out in one of the trees at the back for a while (different visits).

Just a short video of another hawk sitting on the railing overlooking the bird bath, this time closer to the camera.

Ooooooo... nice!

Something makes me think he was hoping some bird needed a bath.

Impressive that it feels so comfortable this close to the house.

gilraen wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 1:31 pm Impressive that it feels so comfortable this close to the house.

If a hawk is outside near the house when I go out I always say hi and wave. It might sound weird but I like to think that it makes the hawks recognize that there isn't a threat here. And there's the bird bath too.

I think that hawk has found himself a good hunting spot. Any bird coming down to drink from the back of the house toward the front isn't going to see him until it's too late.

em2nought wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:15 pm I think that hawk has found himself a good hunting spot. Any bird coming down to drink from the back of the house toward the front isn't going to see him until it's too late.

We have a hawk that occasionally sits on a tree or a fence in our back yard.

We also have far fewer pigeons visiting our back yard than in previous years.

This guy went a little further and built a small wildlife pond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LvaX748pVI

em2nought wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 4:43 am This guy went a little further and built a small wildlife pond

That's pretty cool. I wish I had that big a yard and the skills to do something like this.

Oops, missed this post last night, a racoon visits the bird bath area



Last night it was a racoon, now we have a possum visiting for the first time.

An incoming thunderstorm starts making things interesting at the bird bath. You can see the metal butterflies on the right flopping around, two have already reversed. The rain gets heavier. The sound is pretty bad, the effects of high winds and my wind chimes going crazy. And in the last twenty second or so the artificial flowers from one of my wife's flower pots get blown down the length of the house and end up in the view of the camera.

Racoons love to wash up in the bird bath. They seem to enjoy knocking them over too.

Several bluejays fight over the bath after a hot day. There's not much love lost when someone jumps the queue!

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 6:09 pm Several bluejays fight over the bath after a hot day. There's not much love lost when someone jumps the queue!

Felt hotter in the pool than out on Friday. I bet those birds would like you to freeze a gallon jug of ice and sit it in the bird bath each morning.

I might take a jug of ice to the pool with me too. Might have to make the great sacrifice of eating those BOGO Edwards Key Lime Pies in order to make room.

em2nought wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 11:42 pm Felt hotter in the pool than out on Friday. I bet those birds would like you to freeze a gallon jug of ice and sit it in the bird bath each morning.

I change the water each day so that cools it a bit, but mostly the birds use the bath early in the morning or near sunset.

I took down the camera for the holidays and hadn't gotten around to setting it up again till now. In the meantime, crows have taken over from the other birds.