I have to admit I get a little enamored sometimes with the birds. It seems to happen most at those points of transition, when the weather shifts, there’s a new season and with it a new crop of visitors to our garden. The Eastern Bluebirds tend to wait until it’s cold. The hummingbirds come through twice. The hawks only show up for a couple of months in the summer.

Well, that’s what I always thought. Then Thursday morning Rebekah was enjoying a major gathering of songbirds sampling the new seed when a huge shadow swooped in, literally brushing the feeder with its wings before setting up on a nearby limb to watch, menacingly, as the crowd of smaller birds started to look increasingly like a buffet.

Hawk or not they came back, despite the threat. One Bluebird – above – seemingly staring down the intruder… “You want a piece of me…?”

So I gathered a sampling of images to share. But my best photo by far is the view back into the front garden, looking toward the mailbox with the bird of prey sitting on a post, patient, biding his time.

Here are the best of the photos. Enjoy. Our birds are fascinating and beautiful creatures. Creation is an amazing gift – DEREK