Birds of a Feather

There are many kinds of birds who live in and around our property, and they sing throughout the day, but especially in the morning and evenings.  We have a pair of Laughing Melodious Thrush (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdlAMlOn4u4) who offer a huge variety of songs and who, like our Mynas can also sing variations on other birds' songs.  Mynas are a hoot to watch and we have a mated pair who are building a nest at the west side of our house.

We have a pair or Cardinals (this is the male) who sings several songs (different songs in morning and evenings).  The small Japanese White Eyes are little greenish birds who flit around quickly moving in small groups from tree to tree singing sweet little songs.  There are a couple different kinds of doves -- small and large with their coo-cooing.  A number of different "honey creepers" are regular visitors too.

One spectacular surprise a few days ago, was the arrival of a hawk (Io) who landed in the large Ohia tree just outside of our kitchen.  We spotted him while we were washing up the morning dishes, and dropped everything and each grabbed our respective binoculars (kept on a hook by the dining room table.)

This large predator was only about 20 feet away, and we had front row tickets!  He swiveled his head around for 5 minutes, just taking it all in (reading the menu actually.)  Then Mr. and Mrs. Myna started dive-bombing him trying to scare him away -- because their nest is so close.  We managed during the antics to get out the tripod and, balancing one leg in the sink, we managed to take several photos.  When he made a giant swoop down to make a kill, his wings fanned out to full width as he attempted to protect his catch.

After his morning snack, smug as you can imagine, he returned up to the very same branch -- maybe waiting for dessert.

Finally, though, with a powerful s-w-o-o-p of his enormous wings, he "lifted off" and Phil managed to get this amazing shot.  The hawks here come in a couple varieties, dark and light -- this one is a light variety.

Perhaps as a thank you for such a good meal, he left a lovely long feather in the Ohia which Phil rescued before one of the Myna's could carry it off for their nest.