Posted on 06/02/2015 3:44:03 PM PDT by Theoria
A newcomer has arrived at the White House, provoking fierce turf battles and carrying out more than one lethal confrontation in broad daylight. But this is no political power struggle; it is nature.
A red-tailed hawk is prowling the lush White House lawn and perching just above the second-story window of President Obama’s East Wing residence, lured by a booming population of gray squirrels and undeterred by the harassment of smaller birds that have tried in vain to displace it.
The hawk has captivated those who frequent the White House, from visitors to journalists to staff members, some of them amateur bird-watchers who have delighted in its comings, its goings and especially its eating habits.
It has been spotted several times stalking prey on the White House lawn, including last week when it dived and grabbed an unfortunate squirrel and tore into it at lunchtime right in Mr. Obama’s driveway.
“A gray squirrel is a fantastic meal for them,” said Tom Auer, a conservation data specialist at the National Audubon Society. “So as long as the food is there and there’s habitat — these tall buildings with open roofs are great places for them to hunt — and it doesn’t feel threatened, it will hang out.”
He added, “If they find a good population of squirrels, they will stay until the food supply is exhausted.”
It is hardly the first time that a bird of prey has appeared on the White House grounds, which are technically a national park called President’s Park. The National Park Service website notes that visitors may spot “migratory birds and the occasional red-tailed hawk or bald eagle” on the premises.have forgotten.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good, he’s eating the tree rats.
One of the inevitable laws of birding. If you see a hawk circling in the distance. It is a Red-tailed hawk.
I don’t think squirrel is part of Mooch’s lunch program.
Remember a few years back Paula Zahn got in a lot of trouble for attempting to remove a hawk’s nest from her co-op...the birds were a huge attraction..there’ be hundreds of people across the street all day with binoculars...IIRC, one of the birds was named “Pale Male”
If we could get a “Spotted Owl” to camp out there for a while, we could get the Kenyan’s ass run out.
Removing a nest run afowl (get it?) of the migratory bird act. If you do it, don’t let anyone know about it.
We live in a country club area that is overrun with squirrels and tree rats. Every once in awhile I’ll be sitting on the patio and spot a hawk in a tree.
Indeed it IS a fantastic meal for them.
I was trying to get this hawk out of the road, because it wouldn't give up the squirrel and nearly got hit by a few cars (it was on a corner, and you can see him standing just inside the white line on the side) You can see how close he let me get.
I eventually decided not to push my luck, so I climbed back into the car and drove slowly right on top of it so it disappeared under my front bumper...at that point, it finally decided to fly into the woods with the squirrel carcass.
I did some work at a government facility that had all sorts of barn swallows. This one guy, every morning, would go around with his broom and sweep the overhangs of all the buildings.
When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was knocking down all the bunches of twigs and stuff that the swallows were putting up. If he knocked them down every day, they never got big enough to become nests! As you said - it was illegal for him to knock down a nest.
They’re as common as crows here in southern NJ. Watched one take a squirrel right of my backyard maple tree as easy as it was a Chicken Mc Nugget.
He might have been trying to tell you “Hey bud, go get yer own ok? I’m tryin’ to eat here!’’.
When walking in the park we hear them screeching before we see them.
Beautiful pic.
intimidate.
“They intimate the hell out of me. If they think that you are looking at their mate...”
I saw your correction. So you’re saying they would intimidate you if it looked like you were going to get intimate with their mate? ;)
I think so. I did not stick around to find out.
Interesting ...
I had a pair build a nest under my porch eaves last year and this year. Both times when I went near, they bailed...
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