Never Realizing The Glory In Their Wings Part Two

Two weeks ago, I posted a story about an amazing visitor I had.  I recounted that a magnificent raptor, a red-shouldered hawk, made an appearance in my yard.

I was struck by its beauty.  I managed, just barely, to photograph the hawk and include the image with the post.

Today, I woke up around seven-ish and fixed myself a sausage, egg and cheese croissant and a hot cup of Tazo Passion Fruit tea, grabbed the newspaper and went outside to enjoy the 70^° late summer morning on the deck.

I set my plate and cup down on the table and went back inside the house to grab my camera because I had seen some butterflies fluttering in the morning sun in the rock garden.

My property has a lot of trees; white oak, black oak, pin oak and post oak.  There was a trickle of leaves lilting to the ground in the gentle morning breeze. 

I was skimming the headlines and moved on to the Op-Ed page and began to read a letter written to The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer from former ambassador to Obama, Mark Erwin (U.S. Ambassador to Mauritius, Seychelles and Comoros).

He ended his letter this way:  “Our military is an organization of war, not peace. Military leadership is trained to destroy the enemy. Our actions have consequences far beyond the contemplated limited attack.”

I looked up from the page to see another large bird that had landed on the ground.  It was scouring the ground for something.  When it heard the rustle of the paper, it flew up in a branch of the white oak tree just above it.

Trying to be as stealthy as possible, I grabbed the camera and snapped a photograph of a juvenile red-shouldered hawk.  Perhaps the offspring of the hawk spotted two weeks ago.

I was far more poised this time than last.  I was able to zoom in fairly closely and I think I got a good picture to share with you.

I think I’m safe in assuming that the hawk from two weeks ago has, in fact, built a nest in one of my trees or one nearby and that today’s visitor must be its offspring.  That’s my hope and today, once again, I can say life is good and I have been blessed.

Enjoy your Sunday and may you find an unexpected blessing in your day.

Never Realizing The Glory In Their Wings

Two weeks ago, upon returning from my training in Brunswick, GA, I looked out the window of my home which faces my backyard.  I was checking to make sure my yard guy had taken good care of my lawn in my absence.  I noticed some sort of movement in the far-right corner of my acre lot.  I couldn’t tell what it was, but I was curious nonetheless.

A couple of hours later, I took my recyclables out to my Toter® roll-away Recycle Can when I noticed a very large bird, a hawk I thought to myself, perched on the chain link fence about ten feet away from where I had seen something earlier in the day.  I stood there watching it for about 30 seconds before it flew away.

Fast-forward to today.  I woke up fairly early for a Sunday morning and decided I was going to be productive today.  The morning was bright and sunshiny and the temperature was a delicious 68°F.

The plan was to wash my windows.  I started in the backyard.  I had washed two windows and was beginning to work on the third.  I was safely ensconced on the step ladder under the easement when I heard a frantic flapping going on behind me.

Making certain not to turn too quickly (Safety First!), I turned to see this hawk (?) on the ground no more than 10 or so feet from me on the ground.  It was wrestling furiously with a snake.

I have lived in this home for 40+ years and never once saw a snake.  I judged the snake to be about 5-feet long.  Quicker than you could say, “Rumplestiltskin”, the bird had muscled the snake into its talons in a vise-like death grip and took flight.  The snake was wriggling to get loose.  It was a bad day for Mr. Water Moccasin.

Bad day for the snake, good day for me because I never saw it.  I could have stepped on that sucker, gotten bitten and, well…

I collected myself after that Animal Planet episode and finished washing all my windows.  I came inside and fixed myself a sammich and a bowl of Caramel Cookie Crunch gelato.

I went outside to store my step ladder in the shed when, what did I spy, but the very same hawk from this morning.  I tippy-toed backwards to go inside and grab my camera.  I just knew it would be gone when I came back out, but I was wrong.

It sat perched on a big, fat branch and posed real pretty for me.  I had to snap several shots because I was shaking so bad.  I wanted to share its beauty with everybody.

Once I downloaded the pics and settled on the one shown here, I researched raptors and found that the bird is indeed a hawk; a red-shouldered hawk, in fact.

According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it’s one of the most distinctively marked common hawks, with barred reddish-peachy underparts and a strongly banded tail.  (The Cornell Lab doesn’t mention this, but it’s legs are a lemon yellow.) In flight, translucent crescents near the wingtips help to identify the species at a distance. These forest hawks hunt prey ranging from mice to frogs and snakes.

The National Geographic Society notes that red-shouldered hawks return to the same nesting territory year after year.

If this bird has a nest nearby or it has built a nest in the many trees on my property then it can help me control the ground squirrel population.  Oh, did I mention I despise the little vermin?

So, now I have a family of bluebirds who have established a cozy little residence in the birdhouse I put up last year.  When they leave, then the darling, little Carolina Wrens move in and set up house.

Life is good and I thank the Lord for His blessings.