December 08, 2005 - A chipmunk ChristmasThe Suffolk Times • December 8, 2005
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COME AND HAVE LUNCH With Bar-
bara and me. Sure, we can make room
for you. We'll sit here in front of our
big picture window; it's where we have
most of our meals. You'll see just out-
side the window is a big screen lying
ovef our small garden -type pond. It
already has a coating of leaves on it;
they'll act as good insulation through
the winter for the fish below. We leave
the fish in all winter and, believe it or
not, they survive remarkably well.
Just past the edge of the pond,
vou'll see the winter birdbath we've
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Times photos by Paul
electric heater in its bottom and it's
already kept the water from freezing.
The birds didn't take long to find it.
Yes, we feed the birds — mostly
sunflower seed, and for the ground
feeders, we spread a wild bird mixture
about. Look! You can see the white -
throated sparrows are back and are
enjoying the seeds we've put on the
ground for them.
One problem we have with putting
the wild birdseed out on the ground
is that our big rooster enjoys it also.
He's a rogue, a misfit. While all the
other chickens enjoy the comforts of
the chicken coop, feed and a Plentiful
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supp y of wafer, ne can only stand on
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the outside and crow his heart out in
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discontent. If we put him in with the
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other chickens, the master rooster of
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the coop would kill him.
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As we sit and eat, the feeding sta-
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tion at the end of the patio comes aliv4
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with the continual flight
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of chickadees, titmice and
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white- breasted nuthatches,
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each quickly snatching a
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seed and flying away with
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its prize. They don't go far
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the first limb will do.
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Here they pound away on
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the shell of their sunflower
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seed until it yields its goody
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inside. This, too, is chipped
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away and eaten. They don't waste
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any time in getting back and quickly
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grabbing another seed and taking of .
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Sometimes there's a near collision of
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one bird coming and another one leav-
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ing. What's that, you say? You've never
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seen anything like it?
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Then all of a sudden, there isn't a
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bird in sight. What had happened? It's
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a Cooper's hawk that just alighted in
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that hickory tree — out by the garden.
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We had been watching a pair of doves
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perched together and enjoying them -
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selves, but en w en the haw flew in
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they quickly disappeared.
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The glasses came out from under
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the table so I could double -check this
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woodland hunter as it surveyed the
area. This was a male Cooper's hawk,
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with a ray back, rusty streaked breast
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and a rather long tail that
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gives it a distinct advantage
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when hunting in the woods,
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where sharp turns and
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abrupt changes of direction
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are needed. These are the
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aids that make this hawk so
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deadly.
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Cooper's hawks are not
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that common, so we spent a
good deal of time watching
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it. After about 20 minutes, it must have
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thought it was wasting its time and left.
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I wonder if we'll see him again. It took
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some time before any bird returned to
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the feeders. We couldn't blame them.
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With that terror about who knows
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who'd be next on his list for dinner.
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All the while we were eating, none
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of us had noticed the red - tailed hawk
atop the windmill. Almost every day
one and sometimes two sit u P there.
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And why not? It's the highest spot
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to see from. As we talked, the hawk
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snppea away and with napping wings
flew up to greet its mate, which had
captured a thermal and was lazily glid-
ing in great, sweeping circles above.
The hawk from the windmill also
caught the lifting power of the ther-
mal and the two hawks circled back
and forth, as if they were enjoying
some great waltz. We marveled at
their superb sweeping glides and how
they could sense the unseen thermals.
Rarely did they flap their wings, and if
they did, it was but two or three wing
beats. Round and round they went, all
with seemingly little effort. How light -
colored their under wings were and
how easy it was to see their rusty red
tail when they banked.
They performed their wonders of
aerial pursuit for 10 or 15 minutes and
then it was over. One drifted slowly
off to the southwest — the other came
back to its perch atop the windmill.
Was this just a showing of their every-
day hunting skills? Or was it just the
pure joy at having found an especially
good thermal that one hawk wanted
to share with its mate? Ta us it was the
latter, for it surely gave us all a rare
treat that awaits those who have the
patience and will to see.
FOCUS
ON
NATURE
by Paul
Stoutenburgh