Patricia Stoltey

Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Contact

The Hawks are Watching Me (and Sassy)

August 23, 2018 By: Patricia

First I heard the hawks in the neighborhood, then spotted two sitting on housetops on the route Sassy and I walk each morning. They screeched back and forth in an eerie call that made me think they were talking about us.

The next day, the two had moved up a block, still on our walk route, and shared perches on a house’s antenna (like a TV antenna). Still, they sat, screeching at other.

I heard them in the neighborhood the next day and saw them circling nearby but not overhead. Still, they’re scary. Big hawks. Really big.

Today, when Sassy and I were a block away from our yard, I heard the screeching and looked up. There were three. Three big ones. Circling about where our house was. We continued our walk around the block. The noise stopped. The birds disappeared.

As we crossed the front yard and approached our gate, I glanced up and saw  one hawk sitting on the rear corner of our garage. Watching us.

I hurried Sassy into the yard but did not take off her harness and leash. I shut the gate and turned around, and saw a second hawk, sitting on the fence by my tomato plants. After pushing Sassy inside, I stood at the door and watched the birds watching me.

The long view with one hawk on the fence and one circling overhead (the tiny dot at top left)

My hubby came down the stairs and grabbed his phone to take pictures. Hopefully his video of one taking flight will turn out. If so, we’ll post it later today. He had to leave then, so I fired up my tablet and went outside (without Sassy) to see how close I could get to the hawk on the fence. I started taking photos from a distance and kept moving closer. Beautiful bird.

The one on the fence wouldn’t leave. A little later I took Sassy back outside with the harness and leash to walk around the yard. The screeching started up again, but it wasn’t the bird on the fence. It was a second hawk clear up on a tall tree at the corner of our neighbor’s lawn.

I’m not sure of my identification of these hawks, so I don’t know if they prefer grasshoppers or prairie dogs, but they’re big enough to think that Sassy might be a prairie dog of unusual color and size. Now Sassy is about 22 pounds, so they’d have a hard time getting the dog off the ground. Even so, sharp talons could do serious damage if they tried. And if these are young red-tailed hawks, they might now know what they’re doing yet. Which could also explain why they’re hanging out in a residential area instead of heading for one of the nearby natural areas where the prairie dogs live.

Sassy and I have been inside for quite awhile now, so I went to the window to check on the hawks. They’re gone. It’s quiet outside. No screeching in the distance. No big birds soaring overhead.

The last time I reported on strange flying creatures in our yard, it was a pair of wild ducks. What next?

More from my site

  • Stoltey Family Critter UpdatesStoltey Family Critter Updates
  • The Art of #notwritingThe Art of #notwriting
  • Sassy Loves Star Wars MoviesSassy Loves Star Wars Movies
  • Waiting Patiently to Bring Sassy HomeWaiting Patiently to Bring Sassy Home
  • Two Colorado Girls Make It to American Idol’s Top 24Two Colorado Girls Make It to American Idol’s Top 24
  • Knowing When to End the Perfect EveningKnowing When to End the Perfect Evening

Category: The Writing Life Tag: Hawks, Sassy

Comments

  1. Colleen M. Story says

    August 24, 2018 at 10:57 am

    You’re wise to be concerned about Sassy, Pat. I live out of town on an acre of land surrounded by farm fields, so hawks are regular visitors. This year I had one with babies in one of the many trees in my yard, and when I went out to mow the lawn, she got very protective and actually dove at me screeching several times–got close enough I had to have something in my hand to fend her off. She apparently thought the loud lawnmower was quite threatening! We’ve had the occasional news story of someone in the area getting a nasty wound on the head from one, and definitely of hawks going after little dogs. Most don’t but it’s good to be wary. They are very beautiful.

    • Patricia says

      August 24, 2018 at 12:12 pm

      Good to know, Colleen — just their size had me convinced I’d best be cautious. I was dive-bombed by a fierce bluejay once, and even that hurt! 😀

      I once worked briefly at a raptor rescue center doing tough stuff like cleaning out cages and cutting up mice for food. I discovered, even after training, that I was afraid of the big birds, even the owls. Still, they are so beautiful to see, especially in the wild.

  2. Liz V. says

    August 24, 2018 at 9:31 am

    If you have had no field mice, perhaps the birds were doing their job. Still, it’s spooky that they are watching and talking to each other. After The Birds, try not to watch or read scary.

    • Patricia says

      August 24, 2018 at 12:40 pm

      Hi Liz! Maybe so! Anyway, it appears the hawks have moved on. I heard no screeching this morning and did not see them on our walk. I’m convinced they were youngsters in spite of their size and just getting accustomed to being out of their nest. By now they’re probably hanging out at one of our natural areas where there’s a huge supply of small rodents.

  3. Madeline mora-summonte says

    August 24, 2018 at 7:53 am

    Oh, this feels very Stephen-King-like – ominous and spooky! (Sorry, can’t help myself. It’s how my mind works. :))

    • Patricia says

      August 24, 2018 at 8:54 am

      Good morning, Madeline! My mind works that way too.. I couldn’t stop thinking of The Birds movie. If one more hawk had shown up, I would have freaked out. 😀

  4. L. Diane Wolfe says

    August 23, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    We have hawks that look really similar. They don’t go after much bigger than a mouse though. At the same time, I wouldn’t let our cat Rocket out when one was around.

    • Patricia says

      August 23, 2018 at 5:49 pm

      Hi Diane! I was a little spooked to have two so close in the yard. I think mornings and dusk are the normal feeding times for birds of prey, so I’m watching to see if they come back. We don’t have any bunnies and haven’t had a field mouse in the garage in years, so I can only think they’re looking at neighborhood pets.

  5. Gary Sand says

    August 23, 2018 at 2:40 pm

    Wow! I share your concern for Sassy’s safety. Our four pound Maltese would be easy prey for a large hawk or eagle. I saw a video of an eagle picking up a child and lifting it a few feet off the ground, so they are capable of carrying away a heavy load.. My bigger worry is taking either of our dogs out at night when owls are hunting and the hunter is silent and difficult to see.

    • Patricia says

      August 23, 2018 at 3:17 pm

      It was worrisome, especially with two of them eyeing us in the back yard. I’m a little worried that the two outdoor cats that belong to neighbors have not been seen lately. I wish folks wouldn’t let their cats roam. It’s a jungle (so to speak) out there.

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

Search

Categories

In Defense of Delia

In Defense of Delia

Wishing Caswell Dead

Dead Wrong

Copyright © 2023 · Customized with by: Upperdale Designs