Super Bowl Party!

[Richard Flanders]

No hawks here in winter. There are owls but not many around my neighborhood and smaller ones when they're here. Ravens are the main predator bird, plus coyotes and foxes, of course. Haven't seen a fox all winter though, and I've had a ptarmigan carcass laying untouched in the yard for them all winter. The ruffies are hesitant to cross the open yard and take the shortest route from the spruce trees to the seeds, or they just fly in and land at the base of the house. Once there, they have the comfort of the house blocking predators on one side, just as they do when they nest against a tree, so they relax and chow down. When they finish eating some will just sit there for half an hour looking around, which tells me they're feeling pretty safe. In the past I've gotten them used to me enough that I can come out the back door with a pitcher of seeds and feed them at my feet like chickens, or sit in my folding chair as they come in and feed all around me. THAT's when I know I have truly "arrived"! I had a drummer a few years back that had been around for 3 years and had 5 drumming logs in my woodlot. I could go up to his drumming log with a bowl of water and one of seed chips. He'd move to the end of the log as I put it down and walked away. I'd look back and he'd be at the bowls fueling up. It was sad when he stopped being around. Here's a few pics of him on his log. What a specimen he was! He would drum non stop from morning till night and I'm not sure he ever found a lady friend.