Grapevine Visitors

Goldfinch Male

 

 Over thirty years ago I planted a pair of concord grapevines.  Over the years they have produced good quantities of grapes most years and provide a place for birds to congregate and even for a few species to nest.  Since the vines are only a few feet from our spare bedroom window I decided to remove the window screen and use our home as a blind for some "grapevine shots"
.

A brilliantly marked Goldfinch was the bright spot of the morning was he basked in the early morning sunshine.




Northern Mockingbird
 

A Northern Mockingbird found the grapevine inviting as he perched among the new shoots singing his way through an extensive repertoire. 

Sadly the day after I shot these photographs our temperature plunged to below freezing, killing the new growth as well any hope for a crop this year.

Harassment: Mockingbird & Red-tailed Hawk

Glancing out of the bathroom window a flurry of motion among the distant tree tops caught my attention.  Focusing my eyes upon the activity I discerned a Northern Mockingbird chasing a Red-tailed Hawk as it flew by.  A moment later the hawk landed in a tree top and I hurried for the camera. 

As I focused in on the action the Mockingbird was beginning yet another dive attack.

Firing on high-speed continuous this frame captures the mockingbird as it swooped in.

 At the last moment of the dive-bomb attack the mockingbird reverses direction while the hawk seemingly did not even blink. 

Following this attack the mockingbird lit to the left of the hawk staying there until the hawk flew away.

The quality of these images leaves much to be desired as they were taken at over 100 yards, handheld with the 100-400mm Canon lens in poor light and heavily cropped.