December 2008

Cheeky sitting on the large stick we have tied to the outside of his cage.

This is Cheeky. He became part of our family last August when he was having a hard time fitting into a friend’s home. Rather than settling in, he became more and more nervous and my friend suspects their cat had something to do with it.

Cheeky sitting contentedly with Tim. You can see the remains of the sunflower seeds around Cheeky's feet.

So now Cheeky lives with us where he has become very friendly. He likes to sit with Tim first thing in the morning, while he gets fed lots of sunflower seeds.

Cheeky showing his affection and looking for scrubs.

But it’s not long before he shows his true preference and flies over to me. Cheeky will sit happily on my hand but is still nervous of being petted by hands. Instead, he will snuggle up close to my face and ask me to scrub him with my lips.

A mess of sparrow feathers on the floor of the barn beneath the gate.

One day, while Tim was feeding the sheep, he saw a small hawk come land on a nearby fencepost. The hawk sat there for Tim to observe for quite a while before flying away. It was in the dim morning light though, so he couldn’t see many details. It’s very unusual for a hawk to stick around during the winter. Most fly south.

Marsh hawk waiting for sparrows in the tree next to the bird feeder.

Today we found a pile of sparrow feathers on the floor of the barn and later saw a Marsh Hawk sitting in the tree beside the bird feeder. He wasn’t interested in the seed, but in the sparrows that come there to feed. And it was no doubt this hawk that had eaten the sparrow in the barn.

Marsh hawk with his distinctive wing and tail bands.