Sometimes all you need to do is watch!

Yesterday I had let the dogs out for their afternoon run and chance to play in the snow.  I was filling the wood box in the house and making trips between the garage and the House.  On my last trip I happened to glance up and catch out of the corner of my eye two birds flying into the pine tree alongside the driveway.  One was quite small, a chickadee turned out and the other I assumed at first to be a mourning dove.  Both landed in the pine and for a second all was quiet.  Soon though the chickadee began flying frantically through the branches of the pine with the larger bird in hot pursuit.  Clearly the larger bird was not a mourning dove. First because doves are not that maneuverable in the trees, second they are not predators and certainly would not chase a chickadee for several minutes.
 
I stood and watched fascinated. I realized that it was a northern shrike chasing down supper.  The chase went on for what I would guess to have been as long as two minutes.  The shrike was eventually successful in his pursuit stopping on a branch where I could see him very clearly with the chickadee in his talons.  The amazing thing is that because shrikes are fairly rare I had previously seen one briefly and at some distance.  Yes I identified it but had not gotten a really good long look.  Here I was standing in my own garage and not only getting a really good look at a shrike but got to watch it chase down it's prey.
 
After maybe 30 seconds to shrike flew off with it's supper and I went back to filling the wood box.  Sometimes all you need to do is pay attention and amazing things are going on right in your own front yard.