A week of birds.

[wove]

On Monday evening I was out on the front porch when a great horned owl landed on a branch about 4-5M away. We stared at each other for a few minutes then he/she took off. You do not get to see them close up very often and it was a real treat. The last time I saw one was in 1974 in western North Dakota when a large snowy owl landed on a nearby fence post. And yes indeed it is impressive enough that it stays with you for decades.

This morning off the back porch a Cooper's hawk was picking apart a small animal (squirrel I hope) in a branch just off the back porch. A Cooper's hawk is the smallest member of the falcon family. It hunts mostly in open woodlands rather than open fields. It made quick work of whatever it had caught, then sat quiet and looking quite sated for 15-20 minutes before flying off. Another real treat and twice in one week.

A wonderful aspect of retired life is you can really appreciate and enjoy these small delightful treats that pop up in unexpected places at unexpected time.

[dai_trying]

We have bird tables and feeders in the garden and it is always a delight when a new bird comes to visit, I think I miss more than I see though so am contemplating adding another cctv camera (I have two spare slots) and training it on the most used areas. Although I don't usually get to see anything quite like you have, that best I'm likely to see are sparrow hawks which occasionally fly locally, or a pair of kites, although they are usually seen from a distance.

[wove]

My wife is heavily invested in looking after the birds. We have feeders and bird baths in the back yard. I bought a cheap "security" camera to peek in on the bird activity. It did not work well as a bird watching camera. It is a rare treat to see birds of prey up close. We live close to a river and there are a fair number of eagles that hang out over the river, but you do not see them up close. A house a block away has a very tall pine tree with a few branches, that has been home to a falcon for several years, but I have only seen the falcon from a distance.

[dai_trying]

It must be an incredible site to see when you have the chance! I've never really been into animals and nature stuff as I was raised a "townie" but as I have gotten older I seem to appreciate the splendours that surround us more.

[crosscourt]

I live near a river and not to far from a nature preserve, so we see beavers, bald eagles, and osprey regularly in the area. One time a beaver was spotted walking down the side of the road heading towards the river and my area isnt rural, more busy suburban.

[dai_trying]

We don't really get the types of wildlife over here like you guys do, mainly small and not particularly dangerous, but I guess it's what our environment will give us really. Most of the amazing creatures that are over here are in the zoo's which I don't think is particularly good for the species but at least they are safe from their main predators (HUMANS!)

[wove]

I watch a YouTube channel that consists simply of a husband and wife pair walking paths and trails around the UK. They seem to be interested mostly in old canals, railroads, Roman roads and such. What is nice to watch is they just amble about, with no specific purpose, no real starting or ending point. They get side tracked often by the total mundane. Stop to peer inside a crooked hollow tree, stop to look at the hinges on an old over grown gate and such. It is very similar to the way I walk about. Seems like even the most mundane of items has a story to either be discerned, or imagined if you just slow down a bit to look for it.

My wife has mobility problems and for walks I mostly end up walking alone. We do enjoy watching the birds in the backyard. Mostly they are just plain-jane brownish birds occasionally something colorful and splashy shows up. They get to chatting and squabbling with each other at the feeder. It reminds us of when the house was full of kids and we chatted, squabbled and barked at one another over meals.

[dai_trying]

I think like the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" we can all see what we want to see, or what we look for (good and bad) and sometimes it is the simple things in life that can give the most pleasure!

And I totally relate to your last paragraph

They get to chatting and squabbling with each other at the feeder. It reminds us of when the house was full of kids and we chatted, squabbled and barked at one another over meals.

That definitely sounds like my childhood

[crosscourt]

Theres a creek just behind my condo building and we see a lot of critters, like fox, possum,raccoons and deer. One time a horse ran down the ravine as it got loose from a property higher up the ravine. Its one of the nicest things about living here as we get some nature even though we still have a lot of humanity around us.