Sunday: At Tiffany's

The off season, Dec, Jan, and Feb is the time for me to experiment around the lodge and also go out exploring to find new places for returning guests to go. Something that was becoming a problem last year was the Eurasian doves were the first ones to show up for food in the morning. If food wasn't out they would land on the metal porch roofs and start scratching around as well as sounding their loud coo, coo, coo sound. I'd try and get out there and get food on the ground before they woke everybody up. So for the last three nights I've fed the three critter locations just before dark so food was there first thing in the morning. From the office window I can see there are birds everywhere to include the Cottonwood tree but not at Tiffany's feeding ground. I walk over to see what the deal is and it appears I'm a Eurasian dove short. It could be the work of a Sharp-shinned hawk but more likely a Cooper's hawk. I've seen them many times land on the ground and freeze, waiting for something to walk by and snatch it. A few years ago one landed up the hill in front of the lodge and didn't move for four hours. It's likely the Cooper's showed up even before the birds, moved under the bush and waited. Eating the Eurasian dove right there at Tiffany's in front of all the other birds that were waiting to come in. Though the Cooper's was long gone nobody wanted to venture in to where it had been. I swept up the remains which is always only feathers and an hour or two feeding resumed.