Crow on a dead tree branch… that should be the name of a band, or a song, or an epic poem.
Have you ever seen crows or jays swooping at a hawk to drive it away?
Hawks are fearsome on the ground, after a dive that stuns or kills their prey, and with their awesome weaponry.
But hawks are built for soaring, gliding, and diving.
They aren’t good at aerobatics.
They just aren’t that maneuverable.
Other more nimble birds take advantage of this. They mob the hawk, giving it too many targets for it to focus on just one.
And if the hawk does go after one of their adversaries, the other ones swoop in from above and behind, plucking at his tail and back feathers with renewed ferocity.
It is a dangerous game, but some birds have it mastered. Crows are particularly good at it.
However, until yesterday, I had never seen a seagull do it. I know, it is a bad photo. The hawk had moved too far away even for the telephoto lens. But that, I assure you, is a lone seagull, harassing a hawk. It was like the seagull had watched the crows doing it, and figured he would give it a shot. I hope it ended well for him.
But seagulls ain’t no crows. Just sayin’.
Wow! Those are some good photos, Art. You really captured the dramatic interactions of the birds.
They did all the hard work.