Tired of Fighting - I'm for the Birds

It's supposed to be automatic, 

but actually you have to push this button. 

~ John Brunner from Stand on Zanzibar

Dear sweet Jesus! I mean this as a prayer, not sacrilege. 

I've been messing with technology this week - e-technology and medical tests. What a combination! Slowly but surely one gets to the end of it...maybe. If only you are done by pushing the button (usually that's when the trouble starts).

Anyway, patience lost, I threw in the towel for the day (although I did find myself fighting technology for another hour this evening) and decided to play hooky. Why not relax, brave the blustery weather, and visit our necklace of local parks. I brought my camera even though I doubted any birds would be out.

You never know how prayers might be answered.

Mothers and toddlers were exercising in the meadow as we arrived. Shrieking children came running up and asked, "may we pet your dog?" Zelda was trembling with excitement as one after another they let her smell their grubby little hands, pet her, and then giggled and shrieked their way back to their mothers. 

We continued on.

Our regular companions were missing today. Yesterday we all finished what we call the "long walk," a full two + miles.  And as we passed a business that over looks the park, one of the employees nodded to the bird singing along the creek and said, "isn't that a hawk?" "No," I responded. "That's a mockingbird."

"Oh, a mockingbird. Well, we saw a hawk yesterday," he replied. If true, it was  encouraging. We have heard the hawks a number of mornings, but had not seen them yet. It was becoming worrisome. The hawks should be building/improving their nest now. At this point we did not know if the pair we watched last year would nest again in Harris Community Park. [My friend and I realized it was time to look at the locations of last year's nest.]

Sometimes I think I can "will the birds to appear." I was thinking should trust the reported sighting and look in this area for the hawks.

The wind blew hard. Zelda and I made the length of the three parks in record time...and then we stopped cold. A Red-shouldered Hawk was perched on a utility pole along the pathway. While a celebratory dance was welling up within me, I was afraid to let it out. 

The overcast day was perfect. Normally I'd be facing the sunrise and only have a sillouette.

 

The hawk flew across the creek and joined another (middle top of this photo).

Here you can almost see the second hawk behind the first.

Not a perfect shot, but not bad for the distance. See the two tails?

There you go - the other hawk looks around (or something). Hawk mating is fluttery and quick. I've only observed it twice.

I looked around to see if the hawks had a nest nearby - some half-mile from last year's nest.* I didn't see anything, but it was too cold to spend any time hunting for the large twig-woven nest. And the hawks weren't going to disclose the location today.**

So we did a little happy bird dance back to the car - observing a Great Blue Heron, some interesting domesticated ducks, and a Fox Squirrel on the way.

It was a little skittish, but stayed long enough for a few photos

I saw two pairs of the domesticated ducks and wondered....

...was one pair the two little yellow ducks we watched in the fall? 

There ARE too many domestic ducks in this park. They make noise and a mess. They contaminate the water and the sidewalks...but sometimes, as we watch a clutch grow up, we become attached. There were two seemingly abandoned ducks this past fall that we watched successfully dodge the predators.*** But then we found ourselves walking much less than regularly - weather and illness prevented us following the babies to adulthood. These two pairs drew my attention today. I'm guessing the light colored pair is most likely "our" baby ducks grown up. [The other pair has striking coloring. We will be watching them.]

A NOISY jay

It was a good and peaceful walk - save for the screaming of the toddlers. And that was counterbalanced by their joy at seeing Zelda and her joy at seeing them.

I make no excuse for the Bluejay that flew up just as we reached the car.

There might have been a little game of tag before this Fox Squirrel stopped and gave us a squirrely look.

NOTES:

* These parks hug the creek as makes a large lazy "S." Harris Community Park is in the north-northwest and Liberty Park (once Confederate park) is in the south-south east and stops at the highway. [The hike and bike trail continues under the highway, but we haven't extended our morning walks yet. We walk around rush hour and know there is a signal to cross the access roads, but why interfere with the flow of folks heading to work.]

** We usually "discover" the location of a new nest by following the hawks when they are busy building/rebuilding.

*** We know there are foxes in the park. We have seen them and cats and raccoons. We would not be surprised if there are other creatures harvesting birds every now and again - scattered feathers often tell part of that story. We also watch the dogs track some very intriguing scents almost every day.

Hope you have found your park and have time to enjoy exploring!