Okay, I just saw the coolest thing, one of the best things I've ever seen
with a hawk. While watching the jays etc. at my feeder. I noticed flashes of
wings and bodies along with odd cries next door. I immediately see an object
flying that I recognized as something good. I ran up to my room, got my
binocs. and glassed the next door neighbor's house. I find not seconds later
a very nice adult female sharpy. Along with her are a steller's jay and a
flicker! The flicker flew over about 5 feet from the hawk (the sharpy was on
the top of the roof and the flicker was down 'slope' of it) and started its
head bobbing that they do when they see danger.

Then the jay flies over to the same area and BOOM! The sharpy is off after
the flicker with the flicker pulling some good evasive moves on the sharpy.
They both go in the tree with screaming going on and out pops the sharpy to
go back and sit on the house. After that, more steller's jays came in to mob
her. She just sat there as 3 other jays flew past her, under her, landing on
the lower part of the roof right under her! I could see her head swiveling
back and forth like which jay to get first, then boom, she's off again. This
time after a jay. As all corvids are, agile, this jay was no exception and
he/she did some maneuvers to stay one step ahead of the sharpy. She flew
back to her spot, sometimes the next house down, or a chimney etc.

It was soooo cool to watch the jays, they acted like she wasn't there,
flying and landing right below her (VERY dangerous with an accip.) and feak
their beaks and rouse etc. Then all of a sudden one would jump up and nab
her tail and she'd turn around and attack that jay. She unfortunately left
and so I hopped in my car and found her again, attacking jays...the flicker
went off to see other flickers, two males where sizing each other up, so not
sure if my flicker was a female or male.... Again the sharpy leaves and I
again find her. This time there are crows involved. She doesn't care, she
went after them too. They weren't so concerned with mobbing her like the
jays. But if one flew by, she went to go get it.

Then I lost her and 10 minutes later, I see the crow just going crazy, doing
wing-overs and so on, and then I see a flash of the Sharpy and then I lost
her for good. What was really cool was that the jays at my house, were
imitating crows, their calls, as if it were going to intimidate her!! That
was so cool....Hopefully she'll be back after seeing my feeders full of
goldfinches, and knowing they all baled into the trees (well, some).



Blake Iverson


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