Hello tweeters,

Just wanted to share a good raptor day in my yard (and it's not over yet).

This morning I woke up and pulled up the blinds on the bedroom window at
6:30. I always look out at the trees in the ravine behind us at that
time (Maple Leaf district of north Seattle). This morning there was a
huge silhouette on a dead branch (against a pale cloudy sky) that I
recognized as a Great Horned Owl, the first we've ever recorded in or
near our yard (#108 on the yard list). We put a scope on it. I guess it
was hunting, as it was turning its head regularly, looking around and
down. After 30 minutes, it flew to another, higher branch and continued
the same. Then at about 7:15, it started calling, an odd call between a
dog bark and a chicken cluck, sort of a 'wuk wuk wuk' repeated in threes
every 40 seconds or so. It did this a half-dozen times, then flew away
up the ravine. Was it calling for its mommy and daddy? Its mate? We
felt sorry for this lone owl that hadn't caught anything - talk about an
anthropomorphic response!

Then just before noon I happened to look out in the back yard and
wondered what a dark blob was. Then I realized the dark blob was
surrounded by a white area, quite a new fixture in the yard. I looked
more closely and realized it was an adult female Cooper's Hawk perched on
a slight rise on the lawn under a tree, and the white around it was a
carpet of feathers. I watched it for 5 minutes or so, while it mostly
looked around, appearing alert to the point of anxiety (another
anthropomorphism?). It only pecked at its prey a few times during that
period, among other things pulling out the intestines and discarding them
but also taking a few swallows of something else from the body cavity.
It really looked apprehensive (a squirrel was scolding all this time, but
I remained well hidden) and finally flew away, just making it over the
fence with its heavy prey. I went out to the feather pile, thinking it
was a Band-tailed Pigeon, but it turned out to be a gray Rock Dove. Way
to go, Coop, I thought, as the clock ticked toward High Noon.

Pigeon feathers were spread all over the yard in a path toward the
plucking spot. I assume the hawk brought the pigeon down, and the two of
them flapped and flopped across the yard before the pigeon was finally
subdued. All the rectrices and a few hundred contour feathers had been
plucked. Wish I'd seen the capture, but quite exciting anyway!

Dennis Paulson

Netta Smith and Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
(206) 528-1382