Wildlife

There’s a hawk I’ve been listening to for a week or so. It’s a very noisy hawk.

As I have sat at my desk, I’ve heard this hawk screaming at various points during the day. I assume it’s protecting a nest. I sent the boys outside to look for it, but no luck.

The morning I came down stairs early with S. I was trying to give my husband a morning to sleep in, as he so kindly did for me yesterday. I thought I might doze myself while S watched PBS. But then S said, “Mommy, there’s somebody in out back yard.”

Huh?

Well, turns out she meant something, and that something was the hawk.

The hawk was hopping around the back planting bed, near where we recently put in that patio. It was maybe 10 feet from us, though through a glass door and a screen door. S hopped off the couch, and watched if for a moment through the door. The hawk hopped around some more before flying away.

I thought to myself, wow, that was cool.

A few minutes later, I went into the kitchen to try to make coffee. Turns out we have no coffee filters. But as I was standing at the sink contemplating what to do (I need my coffee in the morning), I noticed the hawk was still out there, sitting on a low branch of a white pine tree just on the other side of the fence bordering the back planting bed.

Very quickly I located my camera. I managed one (slightly fuzzy at full digital zoom) photo before the hawk flew off again.

It’s nearby. I can hear it. I just can’t see it yet.

I think we’ll be on high hawk alert today.