Photo Credit — Nicholas Noyes (because I couldn’t get my camera fast enough) / Flickr / Full disclosure: Not my fire escape, not my hawk

The Feathers Flew!

The hawk that crashed the doves’ party

Last winter I began putting birdseed out on the fire escape and attracted a number of plump, hard-to-perturb mourning doves, spatterings of chattering sparrows, and a threesome of flighty bluejays. It made for a much more interesting winter than usual. Kind of like having a nature show without David Attenborough to narrate outside my window.

Photo Credit — AleXander Hirka / Used with permission / Even if he’d been home, unlikely he’d have gotten a photo of the hawk

I like to get those seed bells (which were out of stock when the above photo was taken) although I also put loose seed on the window sill as well as out on the steps for all the not-doves who are uncomfortable perching on the windowsill with my cat for an audience. Go figure. My workspace is next to the window and I’m used to the little fracases that kick up between the sparrows.

Photo Credit — AleXander Hirka / Used with permission / Tough to get photos of the sparrows sometimes, let alone a damned hawk!

But today there was a sudden loud flapping of wings as everyone took flight at the same time. By the time I looked out, there were literally about a dozen feathers gently drifting in the breeze.