Birds of Interest at the Ranch

Even after over a decade here at the Hermits’ Rest, the wildlife can surprise me. Did I mention I saw one of our big cats last week? Yep, a big ole cougar sauntered across the road as I was leaving. It was headed into our woods.

Let’s get back to birds. First, we seem to have a new long-term visitor that has me very excited. It’s a Short-eared Owl. I’d registered one last year, but thought it was a fluke. This year I’ve heard it consistently for a couple of weeks.

Now that’s a great face, isn’t it? They eat lots of small mammals around sunrise and sunset. Now that I know what they sound like, from Merlin, maybe I’ll have a better chance of seeing one.

I need them to eat more, so cute little mice will stop climbing into my buckets and drowning or otherwise croaking. I have had to turn all containers in the birding station sideways.

Another fun bird that could eat some sparrows for me is the Sharp-shinned Hawk. It explains why the “Kestrel” I saw today looked so big and had such a small head. It was this guy.

I can’t recognize its call yet, so I’m glad Merlin can. This is also another one like the Red-tailed with many morphs. I need to learn the sound. Still, I’m glad to have new and different hawks to watch.

The final fun bird is a familiar resident, the Pileated Woodpecker, our largest. I hear and see them often, both calling and pecking. What’s cool is that Lee and I saw one while driving to horse lessons. It came out of a hole in a telephone pole right on the side of the road! I know to look for it later!

More later! Thanks for reading.