follow the squawks

As I walked down to the water this morning, a series of squawks from the other side of the woods suggested that there was a raptor in the neighborhood. The tide was up again and the trails were flooded but I sloshed on through (I had my boots on) and was able to see a Sharp-shinned Hawk playing footsie with a small troupe of Blue Jays. The Jays would dive at the hawk until the hawk turned the tables and started to chase the chase the jays around. The Hawk is no bigger than a Blue Jay so the adversaries looked rather evenly matched. Eventually the Sharp-shin just took off -- to try his luck at finding some jay-free pastures, I suppose. My question is: who makes that horrible squawking sound? The hawk or one of the jays? I've heard it before, always in a hawk-jay contest.

It was a beautiful warm, sky-blue day with rather strong winds shifting to the east/northeast. My guess is that it will get colder tonight.

As in the past day or two, there have been very few land birds around -- as if the local birds all left for the south and the expected northern visitors never arrived (or passed on through). All four woodpeckers -- Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied and N. Flicker -- were still present along with a few Yellow-rumped Warblers,  Black-capped Chicadees and the usual Red-winged Blackbirds and American Crows. On the water: Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, cormorants, a few gulls. We need a little bad weather to bring in some new birds!

Eric Salzman