What's For Dinner?

Our weather turned from "Rainy Season" to "Full Blown Summer" in the space of about two days, which you might think would suit Princess Fairweather Daintypaws down to the ground, but she seems to think that flopping down in the shade is the thing to do.  It must be due to that fur coat she insists on wearing all the time.  

So we were flopped down in the shade yesterday afternoon, Princess on the pathway, me on the wall beside the garage, idly watching for lizards in the lavender bushes and observing the Lesser Goldfinches, House Finches and Nutmeg Mannikins on the bird feeders.  

Lesser Gold Finches and Nutmeg Mannikins

Suddenly, there was a rush of feathers and flapping of wings and the little birds were all gone.  The cause of the commotion soon became apparent--a Cooper's Hawk had been looking for dinner, but fortunately hadn't caught any of the smaller birds.  

The hawk took up residence in our Chinaberry Tree and waited for the other birds to return.  

Cooper's Hawk in the Chinaberry Tree

They were evidently too freaked out by the sudden appearance of the hawk and didn't return until well after it had decided to go elsewhere to look for its dinner.  Or maybe it was the presence of the large furry predator and attendant human in the immediate vicinity.  Eventually the hawk flew off into the canyon to continue its hunt for prey.   

Back View of Cooper's Hawk  

And what did the Princess think of the Cooper's Hawk?  I don't think she even noticed it--she was too busy looking for those elusive lizards in the shrubbery.  

Speaking Of Large Birds....

When I posted the information for San Diego County Vector Control for reporting large dead birds, such as Crows, Jays, Hawks, Owls and Falcons, a couple of days ago, I wasn't expecting to see one of those large birds very much alive and sitting on our birdbath, waiting for breakfast.

It's probably a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, judging from the bands and white tip on the tail and the amount of white on its underside.  I ran inside and got the camera, trying to get a few pictures without scaring it away, although it seemed oblivious to our presence.

However, as I was taking these pictures, I saw a flash of orange feathers on the ground; a Spotted Towhee had hopped down out of the shrubbery and was pecking at seeds on the ground, apparently unaware that a large predator was very close by.

We know that, by putting out birdseed, we will attract not only songbirds, but also hawks and other critters that prey on them; it's all part of the cycle of life, but we prefer not to watch it happen if we can help it.  

So Cindy went out toward the feeder, the Towhee skipped back into the shrubbery and the Cooper's Hawk reluctantly took off to land in the neighbors' Eucalyptus tree, to the great disgust of the Crows in the area, who set up a cacophony of complaints about it.