Those torrential rains of a few weeks ago brought the annual vacationers to our neighborhood ditch. They stayed longer than usual, enjoyable to see every day. They have since departed, seeking water deeper than eight inches.
Alas, no photos of the neighbor’s hawk hunting. I spied him on the ground as I was walking to retrieve my antiquated form of daily communication at the end of our driveway. I stood for minutes and watched as the magpie brigade squawked boisterously above. He had something in his talons. I deduced it was a baby bird as he alighted and the dozen or so adults followed in a nasty chorus. It was pretty cool.
Then the magpies made their presence known again early Sunday morning when I opened the draperies. A gorgeous fox ambled across the backyard hunting rabbits, and then trailed through to the front nosing under the bushes. Those birds were giving ample warning, apparently. The fox left empty-pawed.
As it’s Wednesday and the estrogen flow will begin, we will also be hyper-vigilant as a pair of coyotes have been spotted frequently roaming the ‘hood, even daring to cross our backyard. It’s the return of the rabbit population bringing all of these hunters around. Perhaps the hawk had a baby rabbit that the magpies wanted?
It’s always a delight to be allowed these snippets of Mother Nature at work.