Backyard Sentinel

Today was an outside bonfire kind of day.  There is nothing like the smell of an outdoor fire.  That sweet aroma coupled with a mug of steaming hot coffee, made for a great afternoon of backyard birding.

They were very busy at all the feeders.  The chickadees were buzzing past my head as I sat in the lawn chair.  The pine grosbeaks were singing their sweet songs from the tops of the evergreen trees.  Every once in awhile I could hear the nuthatches calling from the forest behind me.

I noticed a few magpies making their way to the feeders; scaring off the smaller birds.  They seemed to enjoy the selection of nuts that were put out for the jays.

The Downy and Hairy woodpeckers came for a visit to the refilled suet feeders.  The bird action was non-stop today!

There was a new visitor watching the goings on in the yard.  It sat like a sentinel on a high branch.  The smaller birds paid no attention to the hawk.  Did they know something I didn't know?  The way it watched the feeding frenzy, I was sure it was going to have a feeding frenzy of its own.  It perched in the tree top for about ten minutes and then silently swooped down and away. 

I guess it just wanted a birds eye view of the action instead of a snack.