A Change Has Come

The Sharp-shinneds have not returned to the rear of the lodge. There has been no alert call from the Antelope Squirrels, there is no fresh hawk scat on the favored rock perches. The walkie talkie trick worked. The result though is the Sharp-shinned has a new strategy, a more dangerous one. It comes in low and fast from the east and west three or four times a day trying to catch a songbird right at lift off. It can't perch anywhere without being spotted so it just flies through on random chance. Sometimes there are songbirds there and sometimes not. Tom witnessed two near misses yesterday. With the Monday kill and what Tom saw earlier in Sharp-shinned collusion he was pretty sure that one Sharp-shinned had spooked the songbirds from the east to fly right into a kill from the west. But Tom has seen the Sharp-shinned on six or seven flybys now and can recognize him from his velocity alone. What hit the House finch on Monday and what just flew through here about ten minutes ago is three to four times as fast as the Sharp-shinned. There's a ghost out there. On the right side of the bush, might have to blow it up to see it. Tom sees the butcher for the first time in over two weeks. The Loggerhead Shrike and it's almost a relief compared to the last two days.