a burlap friend

I found this little guy at Michael's when hunting for frames - isn't he so cute!?! I do love burlap, and orange burlap!?! Well, let's just say if I were a fabric, I would probably be orange burlap...as seen by the bag my friend made me. So now I have a little painting buddy who doesn't pace around making me nervous like the dog!

A backyard visit

Yesterday, around 8 am, Darcy starts barking in the backyard.  And not just small "what's that?" barks, but foreboding, LOUD barks (sorry neighbors, I know it's early!). 

I step outside to see Darcy staring at the back wall with her hair puffed up along her neck, back, and tail - WHAT IS GOING ON???

I stare intently at the back wall and see this:

(please be mindful of the copyright!)

WHOA!

It was about a foot tall sitting on the back wall, waiting for breakfast by a tree full of tiny birds.  

After some research, I think he was either what's pictured above, a Sharp-skinned hawk, or a Cooper's hawk.  Interesting, I read a post a while ago from a blog I follow where the author had the same dilemma.  His was a Cooper's hawk, but the one on my wall was definitely more grey with a copper tint to him...a Sharp-skinned I believe - any bird experts out there want to weigh in?

I wanted to snag a picture but with all of Darcy's noise, following by me trying to bring her in the house, the bird flew off.  

Crazy, right?  I never thought I'd see such a large bird in my backyard, or that it would cause such a reaction out of the dog!