I was waiting for the train at the Bridgewater (NJ) Train Station when I heard a commotion above me. I looked up and there were three birds dive-bombing straight at me! Yikes! They swooped back up about twenty feet above me after terrifying me for a moment. I started to watch them. The larger bird is a young (or small) hawk and the other two are crows. The crows are chasing the hawk and literally flying into him in what seems like an effort to knock him out of the air. I've never seen anything like it although hawks and crows are all over the skies here. I didn't get any good shots of the in-air collisions, but take my word ... they were happening. How it all turned out, I don't know. My train came into the station and I had to leave them.
17 comments:
That is weird. Last summer I was sitting in my car at the Park N' Ride waiting for my husband's bus to bring him home from work. I also heard a commotion, looked up, and saw three crows chasing after a seagull. (They've been inland here for years, comimg from Lake Ontario.) I watched them for probably ten minutes. These crows, too, were obviously attacking the seagull as they chased it. I'd never seen anything like it. However, they never tried to nosedive me. I'd have been scared out of my wits if they had. Maybe you ought to invest in a helmet!
I'll tell you that we have had some of the biggest crows I have ever seen coming to our bird feeder and they run off every other bird when they are around. I swear one of them I saw the other day looked as big as my biggest cat. They are mean,nasty birds and I hope they didn't manage to knock that hawk out of the sky. We have had blue jays that try and divebomb us,but the crows never have.
Thanks for the always interesting,and yes,offbeat,pix you show us,Jackie.
Great shots, Jackie. Crows have taken over our area in San Diego, too. Our dog chases them out of the yard or they would be hogging the bird feeder, too.
I love watching hawks. We see quite a few of those, too. I hope the hawk won the fight.
Thanks for these pictures and the ones of the cats. Nice change from the houseguests!
Most of the crows here were mostly wiped out by west nile. But I used to see large flocks of them and blue jays attacking Howks and Owls in my neighborhood. I guess they see them as a threat to the territory and attack. When I would take my dogs out I would hear a loud squaking cawing you know what I mean and if I looked up you would see a large bird of prey being chased down by the mob of smalled birds. Doesn't sound like fun to me. I feel sorry for the big birds cause the crows really are relentless.
Quick thinking Jackie to grab your camera and start shooting! Reminds me of a children's book called "Fledging"--about a baby hawk who learns to fly and is chased throughout the city by crows. He gets lost but hears his mom call and finds his way home safely.
I have a question for all of you....since Josh has made an alliance with EVERYONE in the house, if he wins HOH tonight who do you think he will nominate?
The smart move would be James and ? but I don't think he would risk James winning POV and then going after him. My guess is Sheila/Nat. What's yours?
I guess I should have read Joker's before writing but now I am confused. CBS said we will be involved in the HOH comp. tonight but the HG have been told they will be blindfolded and missing one will not eliminate them. So how is this all going to tie together?? If it's really obvious remember I am nursing a sick dog and sleep deprived!! LOL
Jackie-I live next to a park. The hawks give the squirrels a hard time. It is interesting to watch how still the squirrel will sit and not move a bit, so the hawk does not get them. If it gets to be too long, a clap of the hand or movement by us generally makes the hawk leave. It will take the squirrel a bit of time to feel safe and leave the tree.
Great photos!
Nana, I don't think Josh will try to win but he could get it anyway as we saw with Adam. Good question as to who he would put up.
Not Sharon or Ryan, of course, and I think you are right about James. Sheila for sure, I think, and then either Nat or Adam.
However, Nat thinks it's preordained (not that she knows what that means) that she will win tonight. It might be fun to see her as HOH. Obnoxious, but fun!
Love your nature pics, Jackie! I felt sorry for the little hawk while reading the post. I hope he stood his ground, so to speak. The blue jays in my neck of the woods are the bullies. The only birds that I've seen stand their ground with them are the doves. One wouldn't think they would be fighters or aggressive but they sure don't take the blud jays' crap.
Can't wait for the show tonight and HOH comp.
Please...please... whoever gets HOH, please put up Natalie and Shiela. Send them both home...double eviction.
The questions are probably going to be from the ones we answered on the CBS site. But what's with the blindfold? Goody...some more intrigue.
I've been reading the stuff at Joker's today and Nat is sure she is going to win HOH for various reasons including: She deserves it, it's meant to be, it's in the numbers (7), she's ready, and just to cover all the bases she prayed for the win.
Why even hold the competition? LOL
Sharon, we have the same problem with the crows shooing away all the other birds from our feeder. Drives me crazy. Maybe we need a dog. When they're not around, we have bluejays but we feed them peanuts (unsalted) and they leave us and the feeder alone for the most part.
Meb, hope they are the questions from CBS, and I sure wish that whoever wins HOH tonight, does put up Gnat and Sheila. I'd love to shoo one of them away.
Love the pics Jackie. Crows chasing a hawk is quite common in the bird world but something we often do not get a chance to see. Thank you for this.
Crows chase hawks and owls for the same reason that mockingbirds chase crows: to purge their territory of a potential predator. Crows especially hate Great Horned Owls, their main predator, and take particular delight in harassing these hapless raptors as they nap during the day, often calling in friends to participate in the chase. The few predators that crows, especially fledglings, might face (besides unfriendly humans) are raptors. Adult crows often participate in a behavior known as mobbing, in which they drive the threatening bird out by chasing it en masse. This may also be a means of demonstrating to young crows "this is what trouble looks like."
Source:
Crows: The Bad Boys of Birding
By Kathy Bernhardt
http://www.birdhobbyist.com/
articles/BirdHobbyist/Species/Crows.html
Hope this info helps.
Great photos, Jackie. I'm sure you never leave the house without your camera. I would be rooting for the hawk and hoped he could fly faster than the crows, or had some good "Top Gun" moves. ;) Did you have a moment like in Hitchcock's "The Birds"?
Sydney...
I'm thinking of you and hoping that you're managing and coping all right.
Nana...
How's Josie's recovery coming along? I hope you're getting more rest, at least during the night.
What makes you think Josh will win HOH? If he does, he probably won't have the bravado to put up James. James has caused the others to fear his retaliation. If Sheila and Nat are nominated that would be just fine by me. I can't believe that Gnat thinks she's going to win HOH because she's "preordained". Laurie...you're so right that she probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word. I keep laughing over "I'm done...D-U-N".
I'm waiting to see Chelsia's going out with a bang or so she threatens. I'm sure she'll put on a good act when she talks to Julie.
Great photos, Jackie. I'm sure you never leave the house without your camera. I would be rooting for the hawk and hoped he could fly faster than the crows, or had some good "Top Gun" moves. ;) Did you have a moment like in Hitchcock's "The Birds"?
Sydney...
I'm thinking of you and hoping that you're managing and coping all right.
Nana...
How's Josie's recovery coming along? I hope you're getting more rest, at least during the night.
What makes you think Josh will win HOH? If he does, he probably won't have the bravado to put up James. James has caused the others to fear his retaliation. If Sheila and Nat are nominated that would be just fine by me. I can't believe that Gnat thinks she's going to win HOH because she's "preordained". Laurie...you're so right that she probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word. I keep laughing over "I'm done...D-U-N".
I'm waiting to see Chelsia's going out with a bang or so she threatens. I'm sure she'll put on a good act when she talks to Julie.
Jackie,
I think the birds were sent by Natalie as a warning to you :)
Quick,(((DUCK Jackie!))) If Gnat sent them your way who know what they will do to you. We need you badly...who would keep us updated on the craziness of the house?
Jonmd1267-thanks for the warning
:-) We need to protect our Jackie as much as possible from any and all attacks from the HGS.
By any chance can we vote to give Jackie the money at the end of the season? Put my name down for that vote!!!
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