Posted by Fireform on November 29, 2002 at 23:25:38:
The other day I was lying in the hammock in my backyard with a book, having just sealed the roof of my patio, when the oak tree above me began to fill up with yellow-chevroned parakeets. This was nothing out of the ordinary--they are frequent visitors--but after a while they exploded out of the tree with unusual force. I looked up, and a hawk (I'm no expert, maybe a broad winged hawk) had swooped down just above the oak. The hawk had a very light underbody with prominent very dark and pointy outer wingtips and strongly barred tail. These little 'keets, about 10 of them, instantly swept around and began mobbing the hawk. Very entertaining! After a while the hawk gyred away to the west. I'm sure I'm just ignorant, but I was surprised those little parakeets were so gutsy.