turkeys! (and hawks)
The turkeys are back today. I've heard them in the neighborhood, but today they are wandering around our back yard. I love this.
I looked up what they eat. I want to know if there is anything I can put out to make my yard the happening place to be. Turns out they are omnivores, eating everything from grass and seeds to insects, frogs, lizards, and snakes. I wonder if they like cracked corn? (I know what one or two of you are thinking, and no, I am not fattening them up so I can shoot them. It's far more exciting to watch them wandering around then it would be to eat one. Shame on you.) The turkeys have a very odd cry. It's almost a honking noise, but high-pitched, sort of like a clown horn.
The hawks have been around, too. I never did tell about the hawks, did I? Last summer, a pair of Swainson's hawks raised their young on/around/over our property. It was fascinating to watch the adults encouraging the young to fly. Sometime in the fall the adults disappeared, but one of the young stayed around. "He" was promptly named junior, since the only thing we knew about "him" is that he's a juvenile. The best thing is when he'd come and sit on (or in) our bird bath. Just hang out there, for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. The poor birds who usually frequent our feeder and bird bath never knew quite what to do.
So Junior is a regular over our house. I see him most days, and hear him every day. But every now and then I see three hawks. I've never known if it's the original pair plus Junior, or some other combo. Once it seemed like they were squabbling, but other times they seem perfectly amicable. A week or so ago I watched one sitting in the top of a neighbor's tree. A second one flew in and joined it, but there wasn't really room for both, so after a minute or two it flew away again. Hung out on top of a phone pole, then in a Eucalyptus, then back to the phone pole, then disappeared for a while.
All three hawks were in the sky earlier today. One stayed in a hover directly over the back yard for several minutes. It's lovely to watch. They were lit well enough that I could tell that two were Swainson's hawks, and I think the third was as well.
I looked up what they eat. I want to know if there is anything I can put out to make my yard the happening place to be. Turns out they are omnivores, eating everything from grass and seeds to insects, frogs, lizards, and snakes. I wonder if they like cracked corn? (I know what one or two of you are thinking, and no, I am not fattening them up so I can shoot them. It's far more exciting to watch them wandering around then it would be to eat one. Shame on you.) The turkeys have a very odd cry. It's almost a honking noise, but high-pitched, sort of like a clown horn.
The hawks have been around, too. I never did tell about the hawks, did I? Last summer, a pair of Swainson's hawks raised their young on/around/over our property. It was fascinating to watch the adults encouraging the young to fly. Sometime in the fall the adults disappeared, but one of the young stayed around. "He" was promptly named junior, since the only thing we knew about "him" is that he's a juvenile. The best thing is when he'd come and sit on (or in) our bird bath. Just hang out there, for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. The poor birds who usually frequent our feeder and bird bath never knew quite what to do.
So Junior is a regular over our house. I see him most days, and hear him every day. But every now and then I see three hawks. I've never known if it's the original pair plus Junior, or some other combo. Once it seemed like they were squabbling, but other times they seem perfectly amicable. A week or so ago I watched one sitting in the top of a neighbor's tree. A second one flew in and joined it, but there wasn't really room for both, so after a minute or two it flew away again. Hung out on top of a phone pole, then in a Eucalyptus, then back to the phone pole, then disappeared for a while.
All three hawks were in the sky earlier today. One stayed in a hover directly over the back yard for several minutes. It's lovely to watch. They were lit well enough that I could tell that two were Swainson's hawks, and I think the third was as well.