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Hunter and Prey a.k.a the Hawk and the Rabbit

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Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music.  And death a note unsaid. ~ Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems I've had some weeks - too much and not enough - bad attitude and no attitude. Then I took this hour at the ponds (after being thwarted in my efforts to get a few chores accomplished this morning). The trip to the ponds was unusual....birds behaving in ways I did not expect....turtles hidden in the ditches with a devastating yet not totally unexpected result...creatures expected mostly failing to appear or merely mocking with their calls.... Maybe it was just me. Whatever.  The trip was a bit of a mixed bag and an echo of the days before. Here is what I saw and maybe a little bit more: Red-Tailed Hawk and its kill - apparently an Eastern Cottentail (rabbit) As I arrived at the ponds I heard a great deal of song and movement on both sides of the road. There is a certain kind of movement and some angry bird song when the crazy little birds (mocki...
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Watch Dog, Guard Dog, or Assassin?

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A dog reflects the family life.  Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family,  or a sad dog in a happy one?  Snarling people have snarling dogs,  dangerous people have dangerous ones. ~  Arthur Conan Doyle,  The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes Zelda She arrived about 10 years ago. My beloved Labradors had died* and I was heartbroken. While it took some time,  I eventually went to the pound and speed dated all the dogs available, this girl spoke to my heart. Most of the individual runs were occupied by pit bulls or pit bull crosses.** I walked up and down the length of the kennel proper and stopped at one of the strangest dogs I've ever seen. She was as far away as she could get from the gate and hunched over. She had the saddest face. When called she hesitated before coming over to the gate. All the other dogs were barking, but not her (and she did not bark for three months after we got her home). Her orange and cream colored coat was wiry except for a so...
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Finally, the Vermilion Flycatcher (and an Unimpressed Hound)

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Broken, but unbowed - it took a hit during tornadoes of 2 years ago. This is a tree that supports so much birdlife. It begged for a photo in the early morning light. Happiness, not in another place but in this place... Not for another hour, but this hour. ~ Walt Whitman The pond was waiting for us today after a quick to the store for avocados and such - improving my diet and state of mind was my motivation for the morning. A couple of birders were already at the ponds and I stopped to see what they had found. We discussed the richness of this short stretch of road. They also directed me to the precise area where they had seen the Vermilion Flycatcher.*  I shared some of the experience from last year's CBC to support their observations (including what seemed like a ridiculous number of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks).  I do love birders - they are so enthusiastic and generous with information. I'm glad to be part of the birding community.  These birders were visiting the po...
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