A great danger arrived!
Anxious alarms broke the silence.Squirrels squealing, birds fleeing and pandemonium in the complex.
A silent killer landed stealthily in the big Cork tree. But some of the lookouts spotted him and they sent out the alarms.
I rushed outside and started searching for the cause, but there are many hiding places here for predators. Was it a cat? Or some other kind of danger, I could not know. Whatever it was, was well hidden, but I knew that it had to be here somewhere.
Come and help me find it!
As a precaution Marian lifted little Troy up in her arms!
This was the trigger that showed me where the danger was!
Alerted, the dove spotted something behind me and he was gone in a flash. The Cork tree was directly behind me!
Well, well, well, there he was. It is a dense tree, evergreen, so it doesn't lose it's leaves and the killer was well hidden!
I popped around so that he could see that I spotted him and he gave me a look!
He moved closer to an opening in the tree and I knew that he was not going to try anything!
One last angry looking glance in my direction and he was on his way!
Soon things were back to normal and there was peace in the area again.
But what did I see?
At first I thought it was a Hawk, but the banded tail and vertically striped chest told a different story.
Here we have a Lanner Falcon. My first sighting of one here!
Some more information here below!
"It is a large falcon, at 43–50 cm (17–20 in) length with a wingspan of 95–105 cm (37–41 in). European lanner falcons (Falco biarmicus feldeggi, also called Feldegg's falcon) have slate grey or brown-grey upperparts; most African subspecies are a paler blue grey above. The breast is streaked in northern birds, resembling greyish saker falcons, but the lanner has a reddish back to the head. Sexes are similar, but the browner young birds resemble saker falcons even more. However, sakers have a lighter top of the head and less clear head-side patterns. The lanner's call is a harsh "wray-e".
As they say over here, every day brings new adventures and I was glad to get this guy on camera this morning.
Now I got myself a Lanner to add to my raptor file.
Best thing is that I didn't have to go anywhere to get him, as he came to visit us here at home.
And That's All Folks!
Note: All photos are my own, unedited and only cropped for uploading purposes.
Camera used: Canon Powershot SX60HS
We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting a post by @papilloncharity
What a great sighting right in the back garden, always exciting to see a different bird and yes the whole neighbourhood would have kicked up a fuss. It's amazing how quickly the alarm is sounded in the animal kingdom and all understand.
Pity humans cannot understand each other always Stephen, how that would help.
It was indeed great to see him Lady Joan.
Hahaha, at the alarm calls even Noel the naughty cat ran into his owners house.
It shows that their warning systems are very good.
One thing that I have noticed is the neither the crows nor the geese made a move against the falcon. Very strange.
Even with all of our fancied communications, we can still not compare ourselves with nature's simple and effective systems.
Hope your weekend was good my friend!
#posh share: Source
You do have a great alert system!
This would be a wonderful post for the #featheredfriends Community, but it has to be the first tag you use for us to see it there! ❤️
Oy Vay! You are right my friend as I auto post in ocd and therefore ocd will be the first tag. I should rather post directly in #featheredfriends.
My apologies and will place my bird posts in #featheredfriends.
Take care!
I just miss seeing them, and I often get busy with birds and shadows and don't always make it around to all my friends! OCD is curating the Feathered Friends Community so you still have a good chance of their curation votes if you post into the Community! Plus the other bird lovers stand a better chance of finding them! ❤️
You will be happy to see that I have posted something special in #featheredfriends today my friend.
Blessings!
Oh good! I haven't made it over there yet today, but now must stop what I'm doing and go look! ❤️
Glad that you saw it my friend.
In the old days that post would have earned mighty bucks, but in crypto it's a bird of a different color Lol.
Blessings!
You got some great, well deserved votes on the Kingfisher post! @OCD is doing a marvelous job supporting #FeatheredFriends! ❤️
The kingfisher post really took off elsewhere Lady Melinda.
Late this afternoon other communities decided that they also like the post and the votes increased on it.
Blessings!
Yay! That makes me very happy! ❤️
I forgot to post in here today my friend.
Struggled the whole day between this pc, bittrex, steem and another exchange to get things going and still not 100% completed, so I rushed today's post.
My apologies!
I, too, spend a lot of time managing all the different sites. I do everything from my phone and it is dying. I've ordered a new one but it won't be here until tomorrow or Saturday and in the meantime I'm struggling to keep this one with enough charge to do anything at all. It's always something!
I will be looking forward to your next #FeatheredFriends post. They are always wonderful!
I give you props for identifying the bird. All birds seem to look the same in my eyes, yet you got it up to its species.
By the way am sure it'd be swearing at you by now for thwarting its meal opportunity
Hahaha, what a funny chirp and thank you for the smile.
He might be swearing at me, but a team of little squirrels and birds thinks that I am their hero lol.
I am renowned for backing the vulnerable in life my friend. Both human and animal.
But in saying this, we have great respect for all life and I will never hurt a predator, or any other animal. In fact I have saved a few predators in my time.
Excellent photos of the falcon! This is a great post! Shared :-)
Thank you Sir Keith, glad that you liked it and thanks also for the share.
May you have a good week.
Great shots and the one with the dog peering out makes the story :)
Oy Vay, don't let him hear you calling him a dog my friend.
You will be in trouble with both him and his mother that is holding him there.
I have been told emphatically countless times that his name is "TROY" hahaha.
(Spoilt little brat)
His camouflage against the bark of the tree is excellent. A stunning found.
Blessings.
Thank you my dear and he is indeed a beauty.
Blessings also to you!
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What a cool hawk, I know the squirrel alarm squaww very well.
Yeah thank you and the Lanner is certainly a beautiful bird.
It is so great to see how all of the other animals immediately react to the alarm calls.
Thank you for the visit my friend!
Listening to the squirrels has helped me see a few different hawks and owls around here. Good to use as a guide once you know their warning language.
You are so right. In our case if it's not raptors then its the fat house cats. We have now instituted a new rule here that all pet cats should have a collar with a bell around their necks!
I am worried about the tree with the dwarf chameleon family in it as cats are their worst enemies. And people of course.
Yeah cats are one of the worst predators for native species.
Hahaha, thankfully I have a water sprayer for the cats my friend.
I laugh because they most definitely don't like water and now when they see me they run, even if I don't have the sprayer lol.
Ha cats have to be trained instantly that bad behavior results in some kind of punishment. My fiance used to train dogs and she said cats are way more difficult to train, you basically have to punish them instantly when they do something wrong ie jump on the kitchen table. If you wait just a few seconds too long then the cats won't associate their behavior with the punishment.
Ha, like some humans my friend lol.
You need the extra large super soaker handy lol.
Hey, don't let my wife hear you lol.
Great shots of the falcon! It blends in so well with the cork tree making for a beautiful picture although he was causing mayhem in the courtyard!
Glad he went his way and things went back to normal peaceful way!
That is certainly a beautiful bird my friend.
So wish that you could have seen the rich colors of its plumage.
Dressed like royalty.
Been keeping an eye out as I would dearly love to catch it in flight.
Thank you for all of the visits.