The Hawk Makes a Hit.....

Temperature has risen to the low 40s today....first time since Thanksgiving we have been that warm, and with the rain forecast to start tonight...the 10 inches or so of snow on the ground will turn into a muddy, flooded mess...then by Monday we start the road back to winter weather....I would just have rather seen it stay "Winter-Like"....

About 5 or six years ago, a Red Tail Hawk of the Marsh Variety decided to spend it's winters hanging around the neighborhood....every winter the same one{least the markings are the same} comes back around until Spring.  I have seen it feasting on Sparrows, and an occasional Pigeon...while eyeballing the local Squirrels, I have yet to see it make a move on one of them....after all, it's a fight the Hawk would most likely win, but at what cost?  The fuzzy tailed tree rodents, that feed off the birdseed in my backyard, are fat, healthy, and have claws and teeth of their own.

Just before Noon today, I was walking out of the kitchen, and noticed the Hawk in the driveway,
standing in the melting snow, and feeding on "something"...I got out the point and shoot and snapped off a few photos from the landing window, and then pulled down up portion of the window down and asked the Hawk..."Hey, what you got there"?  Mr/Ms Red Tail took a look, sunk it's claws firmly into the carcass, and flew off....I walked out and snapped what was left...some blood, lots of Pigeon feathers, and some undigested corn, not doubt the last feeding the Pigeon was ever going to do.

Wet for the next few days, and temperatures will stick around in the low to mid 40s through Sunday....I've got a Girls game at Wapak tonight, then Boys  JV tomorrow, Junior High Saturday morning, and then Saturday Night, I'm at Cory-Rawson for a boys Varsity game....with the trip to Cincy, Sam coming home, and the family Christmas Eve get together, the next week will indeed be
busy.

Photos-The Hawk and his "victim" the Pigeon and what was left when the Hawk took flight!

and below:  The Full Moon in the Vapors{Jet Trails} above Celina last night..