Backyard Hawk

There is a nesting pair of Harris Hawks in the electrical tower behind my house.  One of the pair decided to chill out in the tree just on the other side of my block wall.  My dog, Angel didn't appreciate the visit, but the hawk simply ignored her.  It also ignored me and my camera until I got too close.

Bunny with a death wish

I took a picture of this bunny in the back yard enjoying the grass.  It's been a few years since I've seen a bunny in the back yard.  My yard is enclosed in a block wall, but there are 3 gates.

At first I thought the bunny was attracted by the grass, but a second visit suggested the real draw might be the water.  It drank for several minutes.  For a desert bunny, water can be a big deal.

Both times, the camera flash scared it off before Angel saw it. Although I don't know if Angel would have been able to catch it.

 Bunnies are pretty fast.

He seemed to be looking right at me.  

Ground level bird bath used mostly by Inca Doves

Sometimes the cycle of life sucks

I love my yard.  There is a patch of grass for the dogs to lay in, room for them to run around, 3 trees and a raised planter.  My lot backs up to a retention basin and I put bird seed and water out, so I get a lot of birds, plus lizards and squirrels.  I used to get bunnies, but that was B.A.  Before Angel.

Yesterday I was out in the yard refilling bird baths and bird feeders.  I saw what I thought was a dead sparrow in the grass. 

I picked it up to throw it over the wall so Angel wouldn't eat it.. It lay limply in my hand, blinking.  I saw no blood and hoped it was just stunned from hitting a window.  It was covered with ants.  I blew and brushed the ants off.  

I do not have the heart, or the courage, to kill a wounded creature.  And I was hoping it wasn't mortally wounded.  I looked for a safe place to set it, where neither ants nor Angel would get it.  As I was looking for a safe spot under the acacia tree, it shrieked and flung itself from my hand, landing on the hard ground. 

The shriek nearly tore my heart out.  Still, I didn't want Angel to get it, so I picked it up and set it on the bird block platform.  But the platform was swarming with ants, and in the full sun at 108 degrees.  I picked it up again. 

It shrieked again and flung itself out of my hand.  Again, I didn't want Angel to get it, so I picked it up and set it in the crook of the Chinaberry tree. 

I still haven't had the nerve to see if it died.  If I don't look, I can pretend it got better and flew away.

Later in the day, I found a dead baby bird in the bird bath under the tree. 

Sometimes the cycle of life sucks.