MulleinI was on the telephone with one of the world's best brothers yesterday, our weekly Sunday catching up session, when I saw them for the first time and heard them killeee, killeee, killeee-ing as they fluttered over the yard. They were still there at just about dusk last night when Alan and I were out lugging in the last feeding of baleage. They made my day.
A pair of sparrow hawks...kestrels...the smallest American falcons. When the boss and I were younger, a lot younger, a pair nested each year between the roof boards in the heifer barn. They have always been among my favorite hawks and their presence nearby all summer long was always a delight.
Then West Nile virus wiped out most of the area hawk population (not to mention crows, jays and chickadees, the heifer barn hawk family included, and we never saw them down here by the house again.
Slowly, at least the population up in the fields returned to some semblance of normalcy. There were once again fluttering crosses of bird, hovering over the farm machinery waiting for large insects to be disturbed as the driver worked the land and gathered crops. (If you are a bird watcher a tractor seat is a wonderful place to be. The wild things are quick to take advantage of stirred up insects, mice and voles, or turned up earthworms and seem to be drawn in as if by a giant net when the engine starts. We have been delighted by ring-billed and herring gulls, foxes and coyote pups, swallows and swifts, juvenile red-tailed hawks, so new to the game that they had to walk around the field clutching at prey, and of course sparrow hawks, which take advantage of our actions by catching and stashing dozens of critters in nearby trees for future snacking.)
Thus yesterday I was overjoyed to see a single kestrel winging around the heifer yard peeking between the roof boards, checking out the old nesting site. When he was joined by a second my heart was thrilled. When I looked up late in the evening to hear that familiar call, my Easter was complete.
I hope they stay.
Certainly one of the prettiest little hawks there is. I hope they decide to hang around your farmyard and join the chickens in picking off the multitude of grasshoppers soon to be emerging from the soil.
ReplyDeleteEaster: a time of rebirth of future hopes and dreams for sure.
What a beautiful day!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful little birds. I found a dazed one after a storm one time and kept him (her?) in a cage and fed him (her?) sparrows, until he (she?) seemed better, then let the bird loose. I didn't realize until later they were called sparrow hawks from their size, and not because they eat them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a special Easter gift! I don't think I've ever seen one in my area. When I Googled Kestrel to find out about them it says they are the natural prey of Red Tailed Hawks and a couple of types of Owls... all of which we have in abundance.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that the kestrels have returned. Please post pics if you can. We have lots of hawks and kestrels but I love seeing them.
ReplyDeleteGlad the Kestrels are finally coming back....we have at least one pair around the yard here every year but they haven't arrived yet. I heard lots of Meadowlarks this morning and an early blackbird too. Hope you and yours had a great Easter!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding? They actually store critters for future consumption?!
ReplyDeleteThis post makes me whant to hitch a ride on a tractor:-D
It's my understanding that the birds we see today are somewhat resistant to West Nile.
That was a sad troubling time.
What a lovely story about those kestrels (could they be the same ones?) returning to the barn.
And on Easter. Yes. That's perfect.
I like this post, and the returning hawks. There could be hope yet.
ReplyDelete