We've had a lovely fall here - just about as nice a one as I can remember since moving to Texas. Our trees are just starting to turn colors, and while we don't have the dramatic show of colors that they do up north, it still is az lovely sight.

I gave all my feeders a thorough cleaning yesterday & filled them up with seed. It's still fairly warm down here, so I'm not expecting a lot of action at them yet, but with a couple more cold fronts there should be quite a show every day that I can watch from my kitchen window.

I spotted a small group of juncos(snow birds) last week and the winter blue jays have arrived and are screaming for peanuts. I can always tell them from the summer jays because i feed peanuts from the porch railing in the winter and feed from the backyard feeders in the summer. I made a mad dash to the store yesterday to buy more peanuts simply because i cant stand their constant screaming.

I had to Google because I don't think I've ever seen a Turkey Vulture...the wingspan can be over 6 feet! I've never seen any bird this large although the references say they are more prevalent in the south. I'd just as soon not meet one by seeing its shadow first...LOL Talk about omens!

I dread this winter on behalf of the local wildlife. Because of the drought there will not be as many acorns, berries, seeds. We feed the birds yearround mostly for our own entertainment, but this winter it may be a case of survival for many birds, squirrels, chipmunks too. That's all we see as we live in suburbs.

I know they're considered weedy trees but I'm growing a Sapium in a pot (sort of pseudo-Bonsai)and planned to not let it bloom/seed, just produce Fall colors. It is lovely peach-coral-red now, but the Sweetgums I planted are still mostly green. Ditto the native Sasafrass and even the Sumac. Darn it, this is my favorite season...I hope the color is just delayed waiting for rain and cold to get here. To be 75F again today.

Thanks for the comet link, Suzy. I enjoyed reading the comments from all across the globe as it was tracked. I was tickled to see that Hale of Hale-Bopp comet fame was posting. Astronomy was one of those things I always said I'd study and kept putting off until old age...figured it would still be there and easy to study from my easy chair. The time is nigh. LOL josh

I had a similar experience on the other side of the meteorological spectrum last month.

There had been a big overnight rainstorm in southern CA. By dawn everything was quiet again. The sun was big and yellow in the eastern skies. I walked outside and was nearly knocked over by how...vivid...the sights and smells were. It was as if Mother Nature had dropped by and asked all her children to set out a bowl of potpourri for the morning. :o) Just lovely.

Karen

Karen, Mother Nature owed So.CA a reprieve after kicking up the firestorms lately. I love the scent of rain on foliage and soil... it's been too long for us.

And speaking of foliage scent, I was cutting some Eucalyptus for the house yesterday and just gulped in the smell. Mine is just an 8-10 foot shrub in a pot but provides enough for wreaths and a big vase each year. One of my favorite fall rituals is trimming it to survive winter winds since it's always topheavy by fall. josh

Calliope

Every morning my husband and I walk, this morning I was admiring (finally) all the wonderful Fall colors, the Maples are just gorgeous right now.

So I am looking up ... and witnessed a hawk snatch a pigeon right out of the air ! He landed on the sidewalk (yes, I live in the city) about 30 feet in front of us. We just stopped in our tracks and decided to cross the street.

As we were crossing over, he scooped up his prize and landed on the branch of a large oak right over our heads.

It was fantastic !!

Directions to Holmes....

Find the little dipper. Use the handle as a pointer to Perseus. Comet Holmes is the fuzzy object, just underneath Perseus' brightest star.

Ohio Mom, yes watching a hawk take out a smaller bird is an awesome sight. We do not get rock doves (pidgeons) here but do get mourning doves and they are the resident Cooper's Hawk repeated target. She tries to get the House Sparrows, but they are too quick and duck for shelter in the silver lace vines. The doves, however, use a tactic more common to mammals. They tend to freeze when danger is near, hoping the predator will not notice them. That tactic doesn't seem to work with hawks, that I can see.

They nail the doves anyway. I feel just as sorry for the raptors as the other birds in winter. It's a lot easier to belly up to a seed source or bird feeder than find prey and then try to surprise them and overtake them.

I found out something interesting not too long ago (fits right in with that other thread about leading a backward life). Have you ever noticed the whistling noise a dove makes when it takes to wing? I always thought it was a verbal noise they make when surprised. It isn't. It's made by the wing motions and air whooshing through the feathers.

My son was relating to me yesterday he had seen a group of turkey buzzards in one of his fields and when he approached them, they parted revealing a red tailed hawk who was posturing over a kill. The hawk took off with a skunk in tow. That's the first time I have ever heard of a hawk taking a skunk.

Calliope

We have a 235 acre park here ... left to the city by Rockefeller, the land was originally where his home and gardens were. I have seen deer, coyote and once even a red fox.

At first I thought the hawk might be one of the Peregrine Falcons that nest downtown, but my husband who grew up in the country said it was a hawk. I have no idea what kind, but it looked like his tail was tipped with white.

With urban sprawl we are seeing more and more wildlife in the suburbs and metro areas. It is quite common these days for a deer to wander city streets, even downtown. I saved a deer from being shot by a policeman near my old home, she came down the street and then hung a hard right back into the park (right behind my home) ... I think he was upset that I was there to remind him that she was no longer a traffic nuisance LOL !!