Don't know what it is about summer that saps my energy for writing blog posts, but it seems to be a recurring phenomenon. It's not like there's nothing going on, just don't have the frame of mind to write much. One thing that has been going on are the semi-regular visits to my drip by this Northern Goshawk. Certainly clears out the little birds when it shows up, and it is - lucky for me - somewhat tolerant of my presence, allowing the opportunity for close-up photos. On the downside, it always shows up when there isn't a lot of light to work with, and although this photo looks pretty nice, I see a lot of "digital noise" due to shooting with a high ISO setting when I zoom into the high resolution version of the image.
This particular session with the goshawk went on for quite some time, remaining perched on the edge of the drip watching what was going on around it. It would follow the hummingbirds as they zipped around, then became very interested in a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco that apparently, being young and not too wise, didn't know who was over at the drip. While I'm sure that a nice, fat ground-squirrel or a Steller's Jay would make more of a meal for a big ol' Accipiter, the junco might have made due as an appetizer (inset in the photo is a quick pic I took of the unwary little junco).Speaking of Steller's Jays, one flew into a Ponderosa Pine directly behind the drip and got the goshawk's attention. The jay started making a lot of noise - something they're very good at - probably to let all its buddies know that there was a predator around. The hawk's been around at least 4 times that I'm aware of and hope that one day I'll catch in nice morning or afternoon light . . . .
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