What looked like clusters of rusty brown leaves were remnants of our resident Red-shouldered Hawk—a heavy heart. The likely culprit is a Great-horned Owl.
We chat about the behavior, history, and legends of Red-shouldered Hawks and Great-horned Owls and how they benefit the garden, including a humorous bit about a skunk family that took up residence in a client's basement.
Related Stories and Helpful Links
Great-Horned Owl meets Hawk
Visions of the Red-shouldered Hawk
The Cornell Labs All About Birds: The Great Horned Owl and Red-shouldered Hawk
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I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
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Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
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Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
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Ep 116 Great Horned Owl meets Hawk
Sat, Jul 08, 2023 4:12PM • 8:33
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
red-shouldered, hawk, skunks, porch, garden, footbridge, great horned owl, night, shouldered, population, screen, great horned owls, woke, pond, frogs, hear, birds, live, nests, dilemmas, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary stone, and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from Mother Nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:26
Hi there, it's Mary stone, and welcome to a steamy screen porch. Thanks to those that reached back about last week's chat about the oxymoron of seedless watermelon. My college roomie sent a photo of her pink delight cutting cubes with such precision for her Fourth of July festivities, not a seed in sight. I guess there were no seed-spitting contests at your house Linda.
Mary Stone 00:49
Anyway, I know I've mentioned many times about our resident red-shouldered hawk - how he's gone after the nests of robbing families, which saddens me. We spoke about the red-shouldered hawk in Episode 64, Visions of the Red-Shouldered Hawk. But of course, they benefit the garden as they feed on rodents such as voles and chipmunks that can wreak havoc in the roots of our plants. But this week, I have an update about our resident, which starts like this.
Mary Stone 01:16
Hello fellow listeners and readers. Recently while on the porch, I heard a plop in the cement pond and looked over to find the red-shouldered hawk flying out of it - frogless. He perched himself on the rail of our covered footbridge, looking quite regal. Maybe he is a she, I've learned they mate for life and nest in the same areas. Although I've only seen one Hawk at a time. They choose thick forests with wetlands and often go unseen. So it's lucky in a way that I get to see them, I suppose. And they're young and tend to live near where they are born. Despite feeding on robin and blue jay nests in recent years, I've grown to admire him and respect his role in the cycle of life. Though I can do without the ruckus of his early morning wake-up calls when camping on the screen porch, which is a loud high, pitched Kia Kia. It's really loud, and it's a call to claim their territory and express alarm.
Mary Stone 02:13
Last week, on the way out for a morning walk, I saw what looked like a cluster of rusty brown leaves in the middle of the private drive. As I approached, I saw reddish feathers attached to the tips of wings that joined the body. Remnants of the red-shouldered hawk. Jolee sniffed the remains. My heart felt heavy for the hawk - an interesting emotion given the sadness over losing baby birds and a prize Bullfrog to the fellow.
Mary Stone 02:41
Red-shouldered hawks live all along the east coast into southern Canada and west into Texas and Mexico, with a few populations along the coast of California. They are year-round here, but many migrate to the coastal areas in the fall and return in the spring. But according to the conserve wildlife foundation of New Jersey, Red-shouldered hawks are endangered here. They write, Today it's believed that fewer than 200 pairs of red-shouldered hawks breed in New Jersey, and it's unknown if the number is increasing or decreasing. And Hawk Mountain. org writes there's a reduced amount of habitat suitable for red-shouldered hawks. And the loss of large forests also fostered more frequent competition with and predation by great horned owls. Had the predator been a coyote, there wouldn't be feather remains.
Mary Stone 03:33
While camping on the screen porch the night before, I heard a booming screech that woke me out of a deep sleep, and it occurred to me that perhaps was the culprit. A great horned owl. I often hear this series of deep four to five hoots in the night, but I've not seen him. Curt did one evening during the last call with Jolee. When I turned on the light as he crossed the footbridge, he saw the great horned owl take flight - about waist high, he said. The shadows from the lights likely made the size of the owl look much larger than he is. Though they can be up to 25 inches in length with a 57-inch wingspan. The glow of his eyes were spectacular yet haunting.
Mary Stone 04:15
Only when they're young, do the great horned owls have predators such as foxes and coyotes. So they're the king of the forest as birds go. Like hawks, there's a benefit of having owls and feasting on small rodents that impact our gardens. They also prey on larger mammals such as woodchucks, porcupines, and skunks and large birds such as geese, ducks, and hawks. While they usually hunt at night, though they sometimes do by day. So you must be very careful if you have a cat that likes to be outdoors or a small dog.
Mary Stone 04:46
Speaking of skunks, I had one lurking around the screen porch. It was a subtle smell until one night, not a camp night; the scent from the bedroom window was overwhelming. It woke us up; it was so smelly. Pepe Le Pew! I always worry about skunks taking up residence under the porch after hearing the story from a client. And it was actually it was the day of the remediation. She had come home from a business trip, and this whole family of skunks, babies, and all were living in her basement. They were so adorable - she had pictures from her blink camera to show me, and of course, she had to hire professionals. And the idea was to have a heart trap them. But for some reason, there was a dilemma with the mother being separated from this baby skunks, and so they had to make a decision to release the whole family outside. Of course, you know, why wouldn't they come back into the basement? But they did close up the nooks and crannies of the historic home. So I wonder what the neighborhood thought after all those skunks were populating. And I wonder, too, if that same great horned owl was the one that took out that skunk I smelled.
Mary Stone 05:53
I did some digging about great horned owls, legends, and myths that range from when you see one, something terrible will happen. Perhaps someone may even die. Or it's a time of transition for you to make an essential decision in your life. Others say they symbolize wisdom, good luck, transformation, and filling one's potential and desires.
Mary Stone 06:15
The Cherokee believe red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks are messengers of vision. When you see one of these beautiful birds, whatever you're thinking about at the time is happening around you, or it will come true and manifest in your life. So there you go, best to think about good things, which is always a good thing.
Mary Stone 06:33
Nature knows when there's enough of a species and has the master control over managing populations if we don't intervene or disrupt the balance of things, as we sadly tend to do. And so maybe Mother Nature needed to say goodbye to the red-shouldered hawk to get frogs in the pond a chance to rejuvenate their population. It's all part of the plan. Garden dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone.com.
Mary Stone 06:58
There's already an addendum to the story. No kidding. This morning, as I was in my writing spot on the screen porch, a blue heron flew in and perched on the footbridge roof to gaze into the pond for a hunt. We were inside, but Jolee ignited, and it did scare it off. And what a remarkable prehistoric presence he has as he took flight. Maybe he was stepping into control of the frog population and our pond. There are hundreds of tadpoles swimming there right now. So many of them will turn into frogs. It's a magical thing.
Mary Stone 07:33
So thanks for coming by. I always enjoy our time together, and I hope you have as well. And I'm curious if any of you have had any visits from a great horned owl or red-shouldered hawk. I would love to hear from you. If you'd like to, email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com or through the social links in the tag. Any wildlife or garden story from you with the very much enjoyed. Thank you again, and I look forward to the next time on the screen porch. Have a great day.
Mary Stone 08:03
You can follow garden dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden Dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.