Hi Everyone,

I've had a number of off-list comments regarding "Junior" and his exploits at my work feeders, so I thought I would provide a quick update. So far, he has made it through the winter with no apparent problems. I never, however, see him with an obviously full crop so I'm still not sure how adept at hunting he is. Obviously they are at least sufficient. His flying skills are definitely way better than they were when he first showed up. He seems to spend less time in this immediate area, so I think he's realized that it's beneficial to hunt over a larger area where the small bird population hasn't acclimated to his routine presence as well as the birds at my feeders have.

It's been interesting to watch the normal feeder crowd's reaction to him over the months. It has become almost a ritual. He zooms in from one of two specific angles, which he rarely ever varies. The feeder birds always seem to be on high alert and scatter at the slightest indication he is coming in (most even beat a hasty retreat when a squirrel or larger bird like a Red-winged Blackbird make a move toward the assembled flock). The regulars at the feeders appear to have fully learned the location of the office windows because I have not had a panicked finch who was fleeing Junior bonk into the window in months. What makes it even more of a ritual is that the regular crowd of birds re-emerges very quickly. Junior arrives, hangs around very briefly and then leaves. It's almost like everyone has reached an understanding. He gets one chance, almost never succeeds, all the birds safely scatter. He then sits - in plain view usually - twitching his tail and bobbing his hea!
d while
scouring the surrounding brush for any careless straggler. He used to frequently hop to the ground and run into the brush and woodlot trying to flush something up, but that tactic appears to have been largely abandoned. After a short time scanning from his perch, he then flies off - again in one of the two typical exit paths. Within as little as a minute or two - a way shorter time than I see with other birds who have been strafed by a random accipiter - the feeder regulars start to emerge to feed again. The hunter and hunted appear very familiar with each others' routines.

He does seem to have learned one lesson finally - squirrels no longer appear to be on his possible prey list after he tried and tried to catch one in his early days in the area...!

The most interesting hunt sequence I've witnessed was about two weeks ago. He came in from my left and a large mixed flock including many House Finches and American Goldfinches (and a number of other species) scattered. Most quickly were in the safety of the brush and trees. Junior had honed in on one House Finch that wasn't as quick to hide and it flew to my right out into the open over the parking lot. Junior was literally inches behind it when they went out of sight, so I presumed that particular hunt was probably successful. This of course all transpired in about three action-packed seconds.

I'll post an update at least once more when spring arrives.

John Tubbs
Snoqualmie, WA
johntubbs at comcast.net
www.tubbsphoto.com