So, yesterday morning, I woke to a cacophony of blue jay screeches outside my window, making their many different strident and fearful cries of warning. There may have been only 10 blue jays — but they sounded like 20 or 30.

I went out to investigate. And spotted this fellow on the wires near my bird feeder — the one meant to attract blue jays, cardinals, and similar small birds of song — not birds of prey!

He gave off the vibe of being young. He was occasionally being dive-bombed by brave blue jay soldiers. One courageous blue jay took up a stand about 10 feet away from the bird of prey — on the very same wire. And just stood there squawking. I couldn’t understand why the bird — a hawk? A falcon? (If anyone knows, please tell me! UPDATE I THINK IT COULD BE A BROAD-WINGED HAWK)– wasn’t attacking the blue jays. He essentially disregarded the smaller birds and instead just kept flicking his head this way and that — looking, I thought for something to prey upon.

I watched him for quite some time, then came back inside to make my yummy cappuccino. I drank it while sitting in the sunroom watching the bird of prey. He was now moving in closer, standing on some fish-hook type of apparatus in my neighbor’s yard — he seemed desperate to get to something that was either on the ground or in the bushes — but I’d seen no smaller birds in that area when I was outside.

The poor fellow was so intent on accomplishing some kind of mission, that he actually tried to walk — very clumsily — along the fence, but soon gave that up. He was simply too big.

After about 45 minutes or so, my bird of prey took flight. With an empty mouth and claws (look at those buggers — those claws/talons are HUGE!).

Later, Boomerang solved the mystery of what the bird of prey had been praying for … Boomer spotted something in the bushes and started meowing. When I investigated I found a dead dove that appeared to have fallen on to the top area of the bush, but in a way that would have made it very difficult for the bird of prey to get to it. There were lots of little feathers all around. Looked like maybe his little neck had been snapped.

I went out to move the poor thing to a burial spot — now remember, at least two hours have passed — and just the split second that it was about to be scooped up into a small gardening shovel — the dove sprang to life and flew across the yard to a nearby oak tree! It all happened in a flash — nearly scared me out of my pants! Almost difficult to realize what was happening until you saw him in full flight — apparently a-okay — and apparently having been playing dead for nearly two hours! All with that big bird of prey within 10 feet of him on the fence and the wire.

No wonder the bird of prey was so patient for so long — trying to figure a way to get in close to the bird he’d probably caught but somehow dropped in such an inopportune (for him) place.

So, the dove was alive. The blue jays were calm. The bird of prey was hungrily hunting elsewhere –probably praying to eat dove for dinner.