It's the Weekend: Birds of Prey

"... I am the hawk and there's blood on my feathers

But time is still turning, they soon will be dry

And all those who see me, all who believe in me

Share in the freedom I feel when I fly..." 

Boy did I make the right choice in choosing Bonelli Park as the destination of the Friday afternoon ride. It was a fantastic day for hawk viewing. I must have spent more time stopped and watching three or four pairs of them, than I spent riding the trails. That could have been a bad thing, or it could have been a good thing, considering my low energy level. 

On one side of the park two or three pairs seemed to be battling for air superiority, soaring wheeling, diving; their screeches filled the air, cracking the sun which oozed heat down upon my shoulders, or so it seemed on this first warm day ride of the season. Their war cries pacified all the creatures stuck to the ground, stifling them in a silence born of caution and fright.

On the other side of the park were two more pairs engaged in the same manner. It is entirely possible they were two of the same I saw earlier, simply having moved their battle from one side of the park to the other; it may have taken me twenty minutes, maybe even a slow thirty, to cover the distance, but for them... the span of time was like the gap between breaths of air. Soon enough two moved off, but the two that remained danced around the airport beacon and its orange / white post, soaring, plummeting, wailing, talons flashing, carving bits of sunlight from the sky. For minutes at a time I watched, the two never sailing far from the beacon. It wasn't until I got home that I noticed in one photo, what appears to be a nest on the platform around the light.

Not the ride I had hoped for, but my only regret is that I only had my pocket camera. I could easily have spent twice, three times, as long watching if I had had my bigger camera and lens. If you are into such things, Bonelli Park might be a pretty good place to spend a little time this weekend. Whatever you do, make it a good one.

one in the tree too

no mistake about it, it's a Red Tail

under a watchful eye

oh, there was other fun stuff too - the slough...

these little daisies lining the trail...

but then back to the hawks (on the airport side of the park)

around the beacon pole

pretty sure that's a nest up there

a strafing run with talons lowered