Greetings mystery fans. This is The Daily Bone and I'm your investigative doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel.
This morning we found a big pile of birdie feathers in the yard. My ghostwriter says it looks like the feathers were from a mourning dove.
Immediately, I was on the case!
After thoroughly sniffing the feathers, I concurred with her identification of the victim.
With my superior sense of smell, I also identified the perpetrator: Mr. Cool Beans Cooper, our friendly, neighborhood Cooper's hawk.
Wow! We haven't seen Cool Beans Cooper in a long time! We wondered if, since we cut down the gigantic silver maple tree in our back yard, he moved on to better hunting grounds.
Mr. C. B. Cooper sometimes catches robins, but more often he gets mourning doves. These birdies are polite and soft-spoken, but they aren't too bright. They'll sit very still on the ground and pretend to be rocks. When they take off, their wings make a loud whistling sound. How that gives them some kind of protective advantage, I have no idea. But there are plenty of them around.
In fact I caught one all by myself last summer! (I'm a good little cocker spaniel bird doggie!)
We'll have to keep our eyes open to see if we can catch a glimpse of Mr. Cool Beans Cooper. I sure wish he'd catch some of those rotten chipmunks or squirrels!
RIP little mourning dove. You were such a beauty.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the mourning dove but those predator birds have to eat too. Good detective work, Chester.
ReplyDeleteThat hawk sounds pretty tough, C. Be careful out there. Maybe you should wear a helmet or something...
ReplyDeleteLove and licks,
Cupcake
I'd much rather hawks go after tree rats than pretty birdies!
ReplyDeleteOh dear Chester...I mourn the Mourning Dove...if they are like the ones in our yard they sometimes get in a trance and then move to slowly to escape. Crazy Dove once slept in the tray of our feeder for 10 minutes. Good job of investigating
ReplyDeleteHugs Cecilia
You need to leave a note for Mr. Cooper asking him to join your army against the squirrels.
ReplyDeleteA poor mourning dove flew into our windows a few weeks ago and sadly, she didn't make it:(
Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber
Once again you have cracked the case. I think Mr. Cooper should clean up after himself.
ReplyDeleteGreat investigation, Chester! I feel so bad for the beautiful Mourning Dove... but I also know Mr. Cooper only hunts when it's necessary..
ReplyDeletePinot xo
Hi hi hi! Ojo here! Good deduction, friend!
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea hawks were cannibals!! Poor dove.
ReplyDeleteBirds are the new dinosaurs! They eat all kinds of other living things!
DeleteWell done Chester. Although it is a bit of shame about the mourning dove, it is after all how nature works.
ReplyDeleteKlem
Sometimes there are feather piles in our yard too...blue jays, woodpecker and others. We do hear the call of raptors here, but we don't often see the bird that makes those calls. We have owls here too...not sure if they would kill/eat birds?
ReplyDelete