My Mind's Eye

Saturday, May 23, 2026

Symmetry Saturday with a surprise selfie

This is a little gift shop in the building where our Gym is located.

Friday, May 22, 2026

Nature and Feline Friday

Nature Friday host LLB Gang

Red Shouldered Hawk taking a break on my deck...

he is most stately and gorgeous but he also too close to by bird feeders...

Me, myself and I had a debate about this visitor. Me and myself

reasoned with each other that Mr. Hawk could control the tree rodent population that has exploded in our yard.

I on the other hand worry about gorgeous backyard birds. All of my feeders have a dome

over the feeder which is good protection from large birds of prey that would have to have advanced landing skills to get under the dome to the feeder trays.

Here is a bit of info from Wikipedia

Small mammals are typically the most common prey, especially rodents. Voles, gophers, mice, moles and chipmunks may locally be favored based on abundance. Slightly larger mammals, such as rabbits and tree squirrels, are also occasionally preyed on. Other prey can include amphibians, reptiles (especially small snakes), birds, fish, and large insects.^[18] They will attack birds up to the size of a ruffed grouse or ring-necked pheasant. Steller's jays and blue jays, both of which being potential prey species, sometimes habitually imitate the call of the red-shouldered hawk and are known to be difficult to distinguish on voice alone.^[19] During winters, red-shouldered hawks sometimes habituate to preying on birds commonly found at bird feeders. In some areas where they are common, crayfish can be important prey for this species. Unusual food items recorded for the species have included nocturnal animals such as eastern screech owls and flying squirrels and road-killed deer.^[20]