[Tweeters] A bird feeder harrier

[Jeff Gilligan]

I feed birds and small mammals (chipmunks and squirrels) from my deck on Willapa Bay.  The deck goes about 25 feet from the house to the 12 foot ridge that drops to a narrow salt march.  Every year there is a pair of Northern Harriers that have frequently drifted by at about eye level from my living room as that hunted low over the marsh.    This year has had a lot of visits by chipmunks and squirrels, and the typical almost constant bird visits.  To my surprise, the male harrier has been making a habit of drifting over the deck within feet of the windows, checking the feeders and the area of short lawn where seeds are also spread.  It has even circled around the house to come in from a direction other than directly from the bay margin.  So far I haven’t seen it catch anything, but the Eastern Gray Squirrel is a MIA, and I don’t think that there are as many chipmunks or Douglas’ Squirrels as a few weeks ago.  
 
Jeff Gilligan
Willapa Bay