RioTuitoBirder
parrotstowarblers.weebly. com
We were sitting out in our studio last evening when I saw a medium sized orange fronted bird alight on a structure in our back yard. At first I thought it was a Varied Thrush (a Northwest US specialty that is very handsome indeed!) but upon closer inspection I noticed the blue/gray back and that it was a little larger than a thrush. Just as I realized it was a small raptor it took off holding a small creature in its talons. I never got a great look but did note the banding on the tail as it flew up and over the house. It was especially interesting as I had just read a story in a local weekly paper earlier in the day detailing a Cooper Hawk's forays into a neighbor's chicken yard. I think it was a Cooper's, Janki thinks it was a Sharp Shinned. I hope we'll see it again. Our small yard never ceases to amaze me. My fiancee has planted many native and fruiting plants over her years in this house in a residential neighborhood and it has really paid off in bird habitat.