[Guest post by Benjamin Vogt]
I’m a big believer in luck. And by that I mean serendipity. And by that I mean fate. This is why I think that every email could be “the one,” or every telephone ring, or each envelope in the mailbox. Today, I was simply going to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I saw a whirlwind streak of brown and white outside the sliding porch door. Fate.
A sharp-shinned hawk had just landed atop a 6’ arborvitae in my garden. Two winters ago I witnessed another hawk nab a junco at the base of this shrub and make a clean kill. Although I was only ten feet away from the hawk today, I grabbed my 300mm zoom lens and started snapping pictures. A hawk! A small hawk, but a hawk here in my humble suburban garden.
There are moments in our lives when several trajectories intersect, tossed out from a common beginning, arcing wildly into life until they cross paths—like an asteroid and a planet. Four years ago when I began my 1,500 foot prairie garden I didn’t know a thing about growing plants. When I discovered butterfly larvae I was transfixed for weeks, puzzling together soil, plant, light, and insect as I crawled around on hands and knees after dinner until dusk.
The sharp-shinned hawk perched on the arborvitae and for several minutes looked down at the ground. Had he dropped his catch, lost it in the brush? Was he hurt? He took off, circled the shrub, landed on it like some infuriated snowflake. He took off again, landed on the sedum next to it, took off and landed on the birdfeeder, the heated bird bath, the serviceberry, the fence, and then was gone. How could I piece this together?
Stepping outside to investigate I spooked a dozen juncos who all scattered from the arborvitae. That’s what the hawk was after. On the deck I found a tree sparrow, hunkered down, blinking slowly, breathing fast, feathers around it. That’s what the hawk almost caught.
Without the garden we would have not met. And with not cutting anything down, the birds come—all kinds of birds. Shelter, freedom, refuge, food, opportunity. And for me, joy and wonder unmatched by almost any song or book. The sparrow soon recovered and flew off. I’ve yet to come down.
[Benjamin Vogt has a 2,000 foot garden on a 10,000 foot lot in Nebraska (zone 5). Roughly 80% of his plants are native to either the Midwest or Great Plains. He is the author of SLEEP, CREEP, LEAP: THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF A NEBRASKA GARDEN. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and an M.F.A. from The Ohio State University. He blogs / rants about writing and gardening at The Deep Middle. You can also find him at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens]
© 2012 – 2013, Guest Author. All rights reserved. This article is the property of BeautifulWildlifeGarden.com If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Guest Author
Nice. To me, sharp-shinned hawks are the Willy Suttons of the bird world – he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is”; sharped-shins hang out near bird feeders and bird-friendly yards, because, of course, that’s where the birds are. In my area, sharp-shins are endangered, due, I guess, to the ire of bird-feeding humans. I did see a sharped-shin the other day at the railroad station admiring the pigeons.
A local birder told me that outnumber the very similar looking cooper’s hawks 20 or 30 to 1 here. I also read that if you have one making its rounds at your feeder, take them down a few days so the hawk moves on.
Great pics of the sharp shinned hawk. In my garden in SoCal. One visits my garden almost daily to dine at my bite feeder. He isn’t often successful, but when he is, I don’t mind. My goal is to feed all the birds. It is just a part of the beautiful cycle of life.
Nancy Miles recently posted..The Hawk in the Garden
Exactly! Feed ALL the birds. Nature tooth and claw is most humbling and exciting. I also make sure to leave up all my perennial seed heads for songbirds–food and shelter. I have shrubs loaded with juncos right now, too.
Love your post! Hawks are so cool but I wince when they show up in my yard. I don’t want to see my backyard birds and squirrels harmed. I am so glad the little sparrow’s life was spared.
May all your gardens grow,
Jan
Jan @TWOwomenANDaHOE recently posted..A Guest Post on TC Conner’s Turf!
Well, I could do without a squirrel or two. I only have one baffle on one bird feeder, not the other (it’d look just too ugly). Have you seen those bungee cord corn feeders for squirrels? I want to get one and see a squirrel jump on it, then bounce for 10 minutes. What fun.
Great post-I could feel your excitement! I love that you found the lucky little sparrow who escaped and was collecting himself. To me, there is no greater feeling than getting “lost” in the garden while discovering something new or witnessing an amazing thing as you did here!
Diane St John recently posted..Just Say No
Someday I hope to get lost on 100 acres of prairie I rebuilt. Alas. My garden feels so small to me anymore, but we might soon be on the move, so why make it bigger? Why take out more lawn some crazy person will want for their dog of kid?
This fella has been to my garden too
and his uncle,the Cooper’s hawk
Still not certain how I feel about their visits
wonderful post
You should feel fine. You’re adding to the Lion King, er, I mean circle of life.
It is a thrill to watch those hawks. Your pictures are fantastic, but it is your description of the thrill you experienced that resonates with me. The little bird who escaped this time has another chance to be more wary in the future. It’s the slow or weak that get to be a sharp shin in their next life. This is a great post!
Oh thank you Becky! Writers need to hear that you know. I think the sparrow learned a powerful lesson. But you’re right, too, the slow and weak become the strong. Almost religious, isn’t it? Or does that taint it? Maybe spiritual, or just divine. Holy. Right.
Spellbound by your words, and glad we get to see what you saw, in every sense. Finishing with a sigh of relief, for the shocked sparrow.
Now I remember why I like you.
Thanks.
Well done. Your words express so well what you were feeling. “When I discovered butterfly larvae I was transfixed for weeks, puzzling together soil, plant, light, and insect as I crawled around on hands and knees after dinner until dusk.” Thanks for sharing.
Kathy @nativegardener recently posted..As Autumn Leaves Fly
Thank you Kathy. I really did spend hours chasing monarch caterpillars, and looking at them from all angles. And I was 32 at the time. A kid in a candy store.
Outstanding…hawks perch in trees on the periphery of my garden….the birds have the pond, houses, natural food and shelter but as yet they do not congregate long enough for hawks to catch them in my garden except in summer…then the hawks have gone North so the birds are safe from them…great shots!
I’m in awe that hawks come into my little patch. I mean, 1/3 of my backyard is garden, and the rest takes me 20 minutes to mow. It’s not much space for a hawk, it’d seem.
I love it when paths cross like that, I find that the more I slow down and look, the more opportunities and therefore sighting like this I have. If it makes anyone feel better, hawks typically only catch the weak or sick, and protein is converted back to protein efficiently. I’d rather a little sparrow who’s sick or injured die quick in the talons of that hawk than slowly suffer.
Julie Stone recently posted..A Cure For What Ails Me…
If ya gotta go, go fast, not slow. Wait, I just made up a wise rhyme. Neat.
this writer beautifully captured my fascination with hawks and wildlife in our little suburban backyard here in Florida. Beautiful pics, lovely writing! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! I’m so happy, so very happy when my words connect so someone I don’t know. It’s a drug. If you liked my post, I know, ahem, you’d like my book (with many pieces similar to the above): http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Creep-Leap-Nebraska-Garden/dp/1463666594/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312211337&sr=1-3
Great post ! My little dog and I just had a close encounter with a red tailed hawk that swooped in noiselessly over my house. Humbling to this New Yorker who has a mere .25 acre habitat in the NYC suburbs.
We have a falcon that visits too ! If I wear my hair in a high ponytail, he often follows me, trying to discern what kind of Bird Dish I am !
I would love to get that Squirrel bungee corn. We had a scurry of them that grew to 12. They bullied all the other Wildlife away and so we stopped feeding them. The alpha used to knock on the backdoor if peanuts were not out by 7 AM! So, depsite liking them in Moderation, I sure do hope my hawk buddy finds himself a little grey !
Your lot is bigger than mine! We had a red-tailed hawk out here once a few years ago–now those guys are BIG and quite impressive, and one reason we’re careful about letting our cats out (ticks are the bigger issue though). I’ve never heard of squirrels knocking at the door! That’s enough to make me stop feeding them, I tell ya.
Nothing like a hawk survey to keep those squirrels and rabbits from such distructive behavior in the garden. I like rabbits and squirrels but I like them better when they are being too cautious to stay out in the open for long because of a predator.
Gloria recently posted..Winter in a our back garden
I put chicken wire around most of my backyard to keep rabbits out–it was terrible. They came right through the chain link of course. We had them breeding in our garden, babies everywhere! Egads!
I agree, and am especially watchful for any wildlife opportunity. I’m blessed with Sandhill Cranes almost daily, and have hawks and eagles in the woods across the pond behind my house. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Did someone say sandhill cranes? http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2011/03/sandhill-cranes-in-nebraska.html I live and hour east of their main spring stopover here in Nebraska. Stood among thousands at one time. Their calls still ricochet in my bones.
A Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawk usually visit my small village garden every winter – winters only – and for the birds. One crashed right into my spruce tree. This winter I do not have as many birds. I’m told that there is an abundance of wild food. It is also a “mast year” – plenty of pine cones. I have not seen the hawks in my garden. Once again our snow has melted. The river channel is wide open. But exciting for me this year, and a first, a kestrel swept through my garden late summer. Maybe your garden is next? Great pictures!
Such a strange winter. I think with the open ground food is plentiful, yet I keep putting out bird food for songbirds, and apparently songbirds for hawks.
Wish I had more raptors like you!
Why is it so amazing to encounter a hawk, especially one on the hunt (I guess they usually are doing that, huh)? Maybe it’s because we are predators, too.
I was lucky enough to see a Coopers Hawk kill a Blue Jay a few months ago in my yard.
When it happened, I was eating my lunch on the deck, thinking how cool it was to have vegetables from my garden on my plate. I didn’t think much of it when the birds started madly chirping, then I realized something was up. I looked over the rail and then I saw the kill.
Very thrilling.
It made me think of my homegrown vegetables and how far removed I am from the other things I eat.
Thanks for sharing your story and pictures, Benjamin.
Best,
DB
David Bourne recently posted..How Storytelling Works: Tell Stories Online to Promote Your Nature Business
Yes, absolutely, because we are predators–and because we are also still afraid since we were prey not that long ago, in geologic time anyway. I’m sorta envious of your scene. I bet it was a clean kill too, hardly a feather to be found.