Counting Birds This Weekend

From the website of the Great Backyard Bird Count: 

"The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. We'll be adding updated GBBC materials for the next count as they become available."

This is a bird counting opportunity that I was not familiar with, but since I've been happily noting all of the birds around here lately, I'm glad to be able to put my bird watching to good use!  If you are interested in participating too, go the website www.birdsource.org/gbbc  for details.  

Hawk

I caught the neighborhood hawk sitting in the alder trees scoping out the field behind our house this morning.

 

I couldn't see what it caught, or if it actually was successful.  But it flew up to the nest, verifying for me once and for all that it/they are occupying that nest again this year -

Not long after that if flew to the Douglas fir across the field and posed for me.  Unfortunately the second picture is blurry, because it looks like the hawk was looking right at me....