Thanks for Breakfast

I was on my way out the door this morning. My hands were full with my work stuff and two cups of hot, fresh-brewed Caffe Pronto coffee (Mocha Java this week). As I approached my Volvo, I heard the local COOPERS HAWK going nuts. To make matters slightly more interesting, I was in a rush to get to a meeting in Charles County too.Initially I thought perhaps some loving courtship behaviors were taking place. After all, it is THAT time of year and it did kind of 'sound' like love.I put my coffees down and looked to where the shrieking was taking place in the treetops across the street. Turns out, the local COOPERS HAWK had just captured a fresh COMMON GRACKLE. But seconds after the GRACKLE was captured for breakfast, a greedy, slightly opportunistic RED TAILED HAWK swooped in to 'take' the feast for his (or her) own. At first glance, I thought the two raptors were involved in a loving embrace. Hmm, apparently not.I grabbed my camera from the house and quickly snapped these shots. The morning light was terrible, so I apologize for the bad photography. I ask you to please use your imagination when it comes to 'vibrant color and lighting' that one would expect from well-done photography.Sure enough, these two raptors embraced all right... but it wasn't so much about procreation as it was about a struggle over a well-deserved meal. The RED-TAILED HAWK won out and soon flew off with the GRACKLE. But for a good two or three minutes, the COOPERS HAWK sat on a nearby limb, looking puffed up and very frustrated watching his hard-earned meal get de-feathered by a local competitor.If nothing else, it made for a very interesting start to my day.

I hope your breakfast was uneventful. Oh, and not only was the Mocha Java delicious, I successfully made it to my meeting.

-Dan

No time to blog. Come back later? (EDITED)

(While Declan slept...)

I've got (HAD) chores to do: clean the house (yes), the yard (yes), empty the leaves from the gutters (no), get shoelaces (no), feed my family (yes, yes, yes), scoop the poop (yes), do the windows (yes), finish the taxes (NO), feed the birds (yes), walk the dogs (oh, sadly no), love Declan and Emery (ABSOLUTELY YES!) and BOOK some GIGS (tried, but no gigs were booked)!

That said, tomorrow or later tonight I'll post photos from yesterday's wonderful Eastern Shore birding adventure with my good friend Andy Sprenger. At that time, I'll have more time to tell all sorts of great stories! (Well, that time is now. I had some free time this evening after watching the Series Finale of THE WIRE.)

We did see a GOLDEN EAGLE. A life bird for me. A target bird for the trip. Ahhhh... Nothing quite like success.And we also saw some boldly-colored PINE WARBLERS singing their hearts out.One more photo of this fine looking, early-arriving WARBLER for good measure.And, I capped the day off with a visit to Les Roslund's home near Tunis Mills. I was hoping to see some PINE SISKINS. Les very kindly introduced me to his flock. Thanks Les!Ironically enough, when I checked some old BIRDCAM photos from way back in October, I have now learned that a PINE SISKIN has officially visited our yard here in West Annapolis.Just for fun, here is a PINE SISKIN sitting still for a brief moment. This one appears to be doing a George Burns impersonation, pretending that his thistle seed is a cigar.Finally, this afternoon Emery, Declan and I went to visit our friend Adam. He lives near the bridge. Adam was very busy renovating his master bath, so he couldn't hike through the woods with us. My goal was to hopefully capture a photo of the falcon on or near it's scrape. At the very least, l wanted Declan and Emery to view the pair perched on the bridge or flying above us. Sadly, there were no PEREGRINE FALCONS to be seen this cold Sunday afternoon. Or at least that is what I thought! Upon returning home, I was checking over the photos and found one of them. Can you find the FALCON?Have a great week!

HINT: LOOK DOWN AND TO THE RIGHT. THE FALCON IS THERE, VERY SMALL, PERCHED ON THE LAST PIER EATING DINNER.

-Dan