Look Who Came to Dinner

Jun 8, 2012 | 4 comments

You’ve heard me talk about Old Blue ~ the Cooper’s Hawk I first noticed back in February. Remember, I took this crappy photo with my Droid cell phone.

I’ve been waiting for him to return, and he has, albeit infrequently. He’s the reason I bought my Kodak a few months ago. Dot was tired of me borrowing hers (and I could never get a great photo of him anyway…), so I opted to invest in my own.

I hadn’t fed the birds for about ten days. So you can imagine the squawking and chirping once I filled the bird bath, the sunflower feeder, and the seed feeder. It took the feathered fliers less than thirty minutes to discover their feastly accommodations, and was a beautiful sight.

I even put out Cheerios and Rice Krispies for the Grosbeaks. [I haven’t seen any of them yet tonight, but it usually takes them awhile]. Suddenly I heard quite the commotion. The birds had been singing happily, but this was loud. Crass. Dangerous. I looked up just to see a large shadow fly across the window… and I knew.

Without seeing him, I knew he was back. Old Blue.

I quickly grabbed the Kodak and sprang to the window. Thankfully, he lit on the fence near the driveway, uncovered by trees and shrubs. I didn’t even have to go outside [which would have invariably scared him away before any decent photography could take place!].

I watched and listened as he called and cried for his dinner, and hopped around looking for something to munch and crunch.

I was delighted to see his eyes still as deep ruby red as I’d remembered, and his blue feathers now hold a more grayish hue. But his breast still beat with the cream and stripes that I knew, and his talons even more bright yellow than I recalled.

Thank you, Old Blue, for sharing dinner time with us. You’re welcome any time, you Great Big Beautiful Bird!

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!