Maybe I was a bit glum to begin with, but seeing the doomed Downy Woodpecker sent me into a deep period of self-reflection, even on Christmas morning.
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Strange, isn't it? A BoP takes a sparrow or starling... and it's just "Bye-bye". Take something else and we cry.
Our "worst" - tho perhaps the most interesting - was a Sparrowhawk in pursuit of a Swallow. ("Our" Swallow - same as yours... Sparrowhawk, I think, fills the niche here of your SS Hawk.)
I missed all this, but Rod was outside and saw the whole thing. We are often graced with a brood of Swallows in the shed, and in this particular year, they had hatched and raised a brood of four. What caught Rod's eye was the swooping Sparrowhawk, then he saw it was chasing the Swallow. Swallow went right under the picnic table - and so did the hawk! This time, the hawk was successful, and of course we mourned the loss of "our" Swallow.
