FRIDAY JULY 29---THE TRIP HOME

FRIDAY JULY 29---TRIP HOME TO MT GRETNA

We arrived in Mt Gretna about 3 pm, ate at a local restaurant and rolled into our driveway about 4:30.  Bea proceeded to go to the house to open up and I heard a verbal alarm.  The top section of the screen door into the porch was knocked out and lying on the floor.  As she continued on,  she observed large white spots on the floor and discovered a hawk at the other end of the porch---it was trying to get through the screen. 

JUVENILE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK

It was producing very loud, screaming distress calls as it struggled to escape.



We tried to get it to fly out an open door, but it would not budge.  

JUVENILE RED-SHOULDERED HAWK 

So using gloves, I grabbed it by the wings. It felt thin and was panting---it did not struggle.  We took pictures and I put it down on the floor of our deck; and it flew up into a nearby tree.  it did not appear to be injured in any way so that was a good sign. 

Rebecca who had been watching our place while we were away, checked the house Thursday morning and saw no sign of the break-in. Apparently during the day either Thursday or Friday this good sized bird flew right through the screen door.

Some of my colleagues , who are better at identifying birds than I, have decided this was a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Why did it hit the screen with such force so as to knock it completely out of the door?  My guess is that our resident Red-tailed Hawk, a much larger bird, did not look kindly on this "teenager" visiting our place and decided to attack it, causing it to go through the screen in panic.  Fortunately neither screen nor bird were any worse off from the experience. 

Rebecca also found the shed skin of our resident Black Rat Snake.  It is nice to know it is still around, but we wish it would catch and eat the mice that keep coming into our house.

  


Welcomed home.