This morning a sparrowhawk came a hunting in the field and from my advantage point next to the turkey hut (I had been repainting it before winter), I watched the drama unfolding before me.
Firstly, I heard the usual low, guttural "growl" of warning from the field cockerels.
Each one;- Stanley, Jesus, little Pirrie and the new grey youngster let out their alarm calls and immediately every hen raised their heads to the sky to search for the predator.
The sparrowhawk sped over the hedgerows low and very fast. He zig zagged through the hen houses, sending the runner ducklings screaming into their house and burst towards the doves and sparrows in the far hedge as the guinea fowl bellowed out their machine gun warning calls.
The sparrows dived to safety in a cloud of fluttering wings. They reminded me of a shoal of fish darting away from a shark, but it was the doves that the sparrowhawk was after ,and with the cockerels chattering away in the background he clattered into the hawthorn and grabbed a dove in a small explosion of feathers.
The hawk landed in the pig run, literally 15 feet from me and started to rip the dove open as I watched, open mouthed, holding my paint brush up in mid air......
There is a little drama here every day!
Life goes on! Every species has to survive in their own way and farmyard survival is different to wildlife survival.
ReplyDeleteAt least your birds were spared but watch out, if that hawk gets hungry anything is "fair game"!
It's amazing to think (since they are so prolific now) that collared doves have only been in Britain for about 30 years or so.
ReplyDeleteWow! That was very interesting! My lady is very pleased she has that pheasant netting over her chicken runs - phew! Isn't it interesting what calls the chickens will make? We listen to Angus and all of his different ways of communicating with his hens. They definately DO have a special alert for flying predators.
ReplyDeleteHow does it go ?
ReplyDeleteNatures red in tooth and claw.
How true,
Not a nice thing to witness, I saw this myself when on my allotment but luckily for the starling the Kestrel dropped him and he lived to fly another day.
Sadly, sometimes life's cycles are not pretty.
ReplyDeleteI have witnessed a Red Tail Hawk swoop down taking a Hawk and doing the same on the power line just above. It reminded me how violent nature can be. Have a wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing Elton John belting out "The Circle of life" from the Lion King. The countryside can be a brutal place.
ReplyDeleteglad none of your girls got hurt or...eaten.
ReplyDeleteI have very limited signal, so I hope my comment goes through. Still trying to get our home internet fixed. Life in the country, I tell you.
I know it is the way of things, but believe I would have tossed my cookies, witnessing that so close to me.
ReplyDeleteGeez Louise John...there's never a dull moment around your little farm! We live out in the middle of 'no-where' in the country with a pack of coyotes that prowl the creek to the north and east of us and and other than a raccoon that took up residence in the barn once and a few possums upsetting Shep at night...things are pretty quiet around here. Especially in daylight. I'm so glad none of your flock got attacked...now lets hope that darn fox keeps his distance. Hope you're having a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteMaura :)
Only marginally different from me swooping down in the chiller aisle of the supermarket to pick a bird up for dinner!
ReplyDeleteThe Mourning Doves we have here are just as easy prey. Every once in a while, I'll go out and find a little pile of grey feathers near the bird feeder. I have seen a hawk attack once there, also. It's not pretty, but it is very quick. And, frankly, the way that Mourning Doves reproduce, they need to be preyed upon, to keep the population in check.
ReplyDeleteI had a hawk get one of my Indian Runners. Too heavy to fly off with, so just ate him in the yard. I was too late.
ReplyDeleteI watched a similar 'drama' unfold from my living room window last fall. And it involved a hawk and a Mourning Dove. Doves are no the swiftest( as in fast) critters around.
ReplyDeleteJim
A pigeon can out-run a Peregrine Falcon on the flat, Jabacue - which is why the Peregrine has to dive at about 200 mph!
ReplyDeleteWe have a lot of turkey vultures around and occasionally I see them swoop down, but have never seen them catch anything.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been both scary but fascinating at the same time.
Gill
what an image I have of that! I know its natures way...but I probably would of thrown a paintbrush his way along with a little profanity. I wouldn't like that happening so close to my backyard...brazen little sucker he is!
ReplyDelete