Brute Force 0; Lucky Escape 1

This morning, Jasper and I started our morning walk down the alley. Two sparrows sat on a wooden fence as we approached. 

Suddenly, * THWACK! * A big bird’s wing hit the fence and its owner tumbled into the yard behind. The sparrows tumbled too. Was the big bird a chaotic pigeon? Perhaps a not-so-intelligent crow? No, it was a HAWK, trying to catch the dazed sparrows. Fly away! 

One sparrow immediately fled from the yard and the other sparrow squeezed through a tiny crack in the fence before using our presence to shield its escape down the alley. The hawk gathered itself, summoned its dignity, and flew up to a utility line. The hawk then gazed down in disdain on us. Brute Force 0; Lucky Escape 1. 

This event doesn’t provide an answer as to why pigeons are challenged in my neighborhood, but it is a data point. Life is cheap out here on the bird seed frontier!