Boulder Northern Goshawk 11/10/2014

[David Waltman]

I have about 30 or so Eurasian Collared-Doves at my feeders on a regular basis.  Over the past few days, more than once they have suddenly flown off and been missing from the yard for several hours at a time.  Then, a couple of days ago, I heard a loud thump on the window and found numerous collared-dove feathers in the area of the crash.  Until today, I could not spot the predator that was spooking them.  At 11:30 this morning, I looked out my bedroom window to see a spectacular adult Northern Goshawk perched at the top of a ponderosa pine.  I dashed to get my camera from another room, but when I got back the bird was gone.  Currently no sign of the goshawk and no collared-doves either.  In the spring of 2013, I also had a goshawk preying on collared-doves in my yard.  I was only able to spot that bird a couple of times.  So, if you're feeding a lot of Eurasian Collared-Doves, don't despair.  You may be attracting something really nifty!

David Waltman

6,000 feet, 1/2 way between Boulder and Lyons