I got lucky with my camera!

Prior to the end of this walk I’d only seen five white tails bobbing up and down as the deer attached to them, unseen by me, bounded into the woods at a distance. A short while later, I looked up and saw this hawk, one of the advantages about no leaves on the tree being that you can see birds much better. Having only my phone, I did my best in the grey morning to get a photo.

After taking the above photo, the hawk took off. I shot as fast as possible with my phone, unable to really see what I was getting. The hawk flew about a yard from my head before taking off into the farther woods and out of sight. When I got home and looked at my photos, I realized I’d gotten lucky, especially with a phone camera. I did just a bit of editing to bring the hawk out a bit more and came up with this.

McDowell Oct. 2019 #13

This handsome guy flew by me as I walked, landing in this tree, where I was fortunate enough to have him sit for a time as I slowly moved around trying to get a good shot. He was hoping for some fast food, but when nothing came along, he took off in search for a meal elsewhere.

If you like hawks, go see what my friend Madison at Wild Ozark is creating with paints she makes herself from rocks in the Ozarks. Her hawks are fiercely beautiful.

Two-fer Tuesday

I was driving along a back street on a recent Saturday morning when I happened to glance at a nearby light pole and spotted these two hanging out. Quickly pulling into the parking lot, I slowly walked very close to the pole to take some shots with my ever-present phone. The bird on the left was calling insistently and there was a third bird on the next post over, but facing the other way and not interacting with these two at all. What a great way to start the day!

I tried to look them up online but had no luck finding any hawks that matched how these two looked. (I have the same problem with flowers all too often.) So if any of you can identify them, you’ll make my Tuesday even better.

A literary bird

No Photo Challenge for me today.  A taxi will call/called (depending on when you read this) for me at 3 am this morning (yes, a.m., you read that correctly) to take me to the airport for a 5:45 am Southwest Airlines flight to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, to visit daughter #2 (in birth order, not love.)  I’m being really daring:  not taking my laptop, only my iPad and iPhone, and Nikon sans telephoto (probably.)  But I don’t plan to spend much time online, so that’s OK.  It’s family time.  🙂

Last week I was walking back to my van from another trip to the library, my favorite downtown (or anywhere) destination when a large bird flew by quite close to me, landing on the tree lawn not far away.  Looked like a hawk to me, so I ran over to find I was right.  A large one with a wing span of about 2′ or more, it didn’t have any books, but wasn’t in any hurry to leave.  I got my phone out and walked as slowly as possible, snapping shots every few steps, just in case it took wing.  Finally it flew across the street and stopped again.  Only a few drivers seemed to wonder what I was seeing and I got a few more shots before it took off for somewhere less busy.  A large smile stayed on my face for some time.

Between the bright sunshine and only having a phone camera, the shots aren’t stellar, but I think they’re good enough to give you an idea of how magnificent the hawk was and why the sighting made me so happy.

A hawk’s nature

A hawk kills because it is his nature; a man because it is his pleasure.
~Darkovan proverb

This morning I decided to walk around our neighborhood lake rather than go to “my” park.  Without the shelter of park’s trees, the wind was biting.  Most of the lake was covered with a skin of ice, leaving only a small area still open water.  I can assure you that duck or goose down is warm, as two ducks were plying their way back and forth in the water, bobbing down regularly for food, heedless of the cold.

As I came to the end of my first loop of a bit over a mile, I saw not far ahead of me a hawk sitting just off the edge of the path.  I slowed, expecting it to take off, but it remained still, head lowered.  Afraid something was wrong with it, I advanced slowly, holding my phone up to take photos, while wondering who to call if it were injured.  Finally I got too close for comfort and it flew into the air, breakfast hanging redly from its talons.  I’d interrupted the meal and the hawk wanted to relax while eating.

Preying–a haiku

Preying

Hawk floats lazily
Buoyed by updrafts, perusing
The day’s lunch specials

Something old, something new

I’ve driven the Chicago-Cleveland (or Cleveland-Chicago) route many times in the last years but still, once I get in the van and on the road, I settle down and enjoy the ride.  There’s always something new to see and plenty old favorites.  Join me for a very compressed, selective six hours.