| Love is in the air... literally |
| Something was telling me to take a break after lunch and go for a walk... so out I went and walked up through the native plant garden behind the station and then out on the nature trail. There was a brisk breeze blowing but the sun was out. A fat gray squirrel caught my attention for a while, this guy was certainly not suffering after the last few winter storms. Life and food supply was apparently quite good and his tail was fluffy and his fur was blowing in the wind as he sat up and ate his meal. Then the call of a Red-tailed Hawk sounded above and though the squirrel barely paused his chewing I looked up and saw what was no doubt a pair circling overhead. Females are larger than males and they circled and called out to each other. As they got closer I could see their talons reach out to the other and even touch briefly in flight. Then over the crest of a hill I noticed two more circling and diving and chasing each other. Love was in the air. I watched the pair closest to me for quite some time and eventually the female landed in the top of a tall Coulter Pine and the male followed. Their intimate moment didn't last too long with the male flying off less than 30-seconds later. The female stayed put for about 5 minutes then she, too, flew off. This afternoon I snuck away a couple more times and each time spotted the hawks flying up above and crying out to one another. It would be wonderful if they nested nearby, wouldn't it be incredible to see them raise their young? Back to Tarol's Homepage |