Facebook and iNaturalist have taken over.

 I was wondering why I had abandoned this blog that I have enjoyed writing, even if only for my own record, and realized that since 2016 I've started making much more use of Facebook to post interesting observations in this woodlot. Then before the pandemic, I had been introduced to other citizen-science websites like iNaturalist where I could share postings of flora and fauna and with a like-minded community who would share their observations being their own or provide comments on yours.

The draw of the alternatives, has completely diminished my interest in returning to this blog, other than to maybe share a story with friend on email that aren't on FB or iNaturalist. 

iNaturalist is international at iNaturalist.org as well there is a Canadian version at iNaturalist.ca. Unfortunately, I find the Canadian version limiting, as it always wants to filter observations to Canada. It is much more appealing to see the distribution of the plants and animals worldwide. 

If you are intrested, my iNaturalist username is Leanhoser, and the observations can be viewed at: 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=leanhoser&verifiable=any

I am now up to 684 observations in iNaturalist, although admittedly many are repetitive. 

The Crow, Hawk and Owl

A drama unfolded in our yard last Sunday Jan 23rd, 2002. We were attracted to look out the house towards the yard by a cacophony of crows, only to find that a Goshawk had pounced on a crow. 

 

The crow still very much alive fought back. Then suddenly a Barred owl got into the act. 

The hawk left, and the owl finally did the crow in. 

 

The carcass was too large for the owl to carry off, so instead it started plucking the feathers while attempting to drag the carcass away. 

 

 

The hawk eventually returned to retake possession, and the owl flew into the tree above to watch as the hawk consumed the carcass.

 

 When it was light enough, the hawk flew off with it in its clutches and with the owl in hot pursuit. I must say it was an adrenalin rush to watch. Time for a rest now.

Since this event, I did some research into these birds.

According to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) Field Guide to birds of Ontario, the Northern Goshawk weighs 1.5-2.6 lb.

The Barred owl weighs 1.4-1.7 lb. and

the American Crow weighs around 1 lb.

 

The most common prey of the Goshawk is Grouse, which is a bit smaller than the crow and not nearly as aggressive.