Last summer a pair of red tailed hawks built a nest in the woods beyond the meadow. The woods were filled with squawking and cries from the babies while Ma and Pa kept flying back and forth all day to meet their needs. This spring though a gaggle of crows moved into the neighborhood. They ganged up on the hawks and drove them away. I did some investigating and found that crows will “mob” hawks to drive them out and this is exactly what I observed. This in turn caused an explosion of rabbits to be born. I can count over 5 rabbits anytime of the day in the yard in all stages of life.
The gang of crows built a nest in a row of evergreens opposite from the woods in the late spring into the early summer. After the crow fledglings were out on their own a hawk reappeared. The crows gave a bit of a fight but not enough this time to keep the hawk pair away. So, now the hawks are back, trying to nest again and bringing the rabbit numbers back in check. There is finally balance again in this part of the web of life.
Check out these amazing photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhcarter3/3518053461/
No comments:
Post a Comment