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| * marsh hawk * |
Yesterday afternoon, while I waited for the 'big storm' to hit, I was delighted to see the other area hawk visit the gardens. This is the smaller, slimmer, more acrobatic marsh hawk. While the big female red-tailed hawk can usually be seen high in the sky, the marsh hawk tends to make a sudden appearance as it swoops under a tree and into a bush or mass planting.
These hawks are more ambush hunters and will hang around the lower limbs of trees, or on fences, etc. and pounce on a likely meal, taking smaller birds than a red-tailed will bother with.
It's always a treat when I get to see this gal's sudden aerial display of swoops, dives and hairpin turns. Even the 30-40 mph wind didn't seem to affect her flight, although she didn't score a meal this time.
These hawks are more ambush hunters and will hang around the lower limbs of trees, or on fences, etc. and pounce on a likely meal, taking smaller birds than a red-tailed will bother with.
It's always a treat when I get to see this gal's sudden aerial display of swoops, dives and hairpin turns. Even the 30-40 mph wind didn't seem to affect her flight, although she didn't score a meal this time.
I put quotes around big storm because, once again (at least for our area) the weather channel turned up the volume and forecasted end-of-the-world weather for us. The wind WAS stiff (gusts up to 40 mph), but the rain? It was just rain - no thunder, no lightning, no apocalypse. But I know we were very lucky and dodged a bullet - the news is full of tornadoes, wind damage, beach erosion and property damage.
And while we really Really REALLY needed the rain (only .75" previously this month), couldn't it have waited until next week when most of the leaves would have been gathered up? *sigh* Now I'll have to wait for them to dry. Such is life.... :-/
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It's always hard to capture a storm in a photo without it looking lame. But it actually looks like it's gusting pretty hard in that second one :D
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you didn't get anything too damaging storm-wise.
Kyna - Thankfully a lot of the huge trees had already shed their leaves, so they weren't in 'full sail' when the winds hit. The only downed limb was a dead one, so in that regards the wind was more of a help than a hindrance.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the rain was coming in waves but that's always so hard to catch. Hope you didn't get any damage.
Be grateful for the rain! You should see the leaves in my east yard.....and they may stay there indefinitely. I need one of those sweeps that picks up all the leaves as you mow and catches them in a large container.Wouldn't that be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteGlenda - For sheer envy - click on this link for the DR leaf vacuum. *drool*
ReplyDeleteRain always comes at the wrong time, doesn't it? I have workmen over to help me clean the back yard; the work supposed to be done in 3 days. We had good weather yesterday and the day before but... it rains today! Just one more day and it cannot wait! It's still early now and I'm hoping the workmen still come today to finish up.
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it through that storm so well.
ReplyDeleteWe need rain so badly. It'll probably pour when the men are here to replace the septic.... Probably another week or so before they start. Will be getting three windows replaced about the same time. Yep, sounds like a good time for a downpour to me....
Ha Xuan & Ilene - Yep! You wait for rain, you pray for it, you even dance around a little bit. Then you decided a dry spell is a good time to do a nice project and - WHAMMO! LOL
ReplyDeleteHa Xuan - I hope you get the back yard all cleaned up and hope you post a pic of the work/finish. :-D
Ilene - Ooooh. 3 new windows. You're gonna like that a lot. I really really like mine. I only have one more to replace - the big sagging, leaking, front bay window. I better start buying lotto tickets to pay for that monster! ;-D
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ReplyDeleteThe autumn and lady hawk seem wonderful with pale leaves falling everywhere. Its a beautiful scenery.
The colors in the pictures are so beautiful. Autumn definitely has a lot of charm in its own way :)
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