Monday, May 11, 2015

Birds of Prey and Birds Who Are Prey

Summer is settling in here in North Florida and the days are getting hotter. I went for a shortish walk this morning simply because I had to. We haven't had rain for awhile and things are looking dusty, even in the new green. A hawk soared beside me for a bit, then landed on a wire and perched and did not mind at all when I stepped up and took her picture. Or his.


Fancy yellow feet of death on that bird. They are glorious birds but damn, once you've seen one snatch a young chicken and fly with it off to the woods, the mother hen screaming in terror, you can never look at them the same again. Mama Hen wants desperately to be let out of the coop with her children and although I know she is as fierce a mother as one could find in the poultry world, I don't think that even she could prevent a hawk from getting one of her babies. And so they stay in the coop for now even though it hurts my heart to see even a hen and chicks held captive in a coop, as large as it may be. 

The boys are coming soon and will be here through supper time tonight. The pool is still set up from yesterday and I hope they want to spend some time in it. It feels like a day to be slow and easy. We shall see how they feel about that. 

And so it goes and now I want to hang the sheets on the line, and the porch plants need a good soaking. It is a good day to be a grandmother in Lloyd and I hope we get more rain soon.

Love...Ms. Moon






11 comments:

  1. I have never seen one fly off with a chicken, but I do look at them differently than I did before. I hung old CD discs in a tree (much to my son'd horror) don't know if it helped or not. Gail

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  2. How are we both having hawk troubles this morning?!?!!

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  3. rained here this morning like a faucet turned on and then off. boy oh boy is humid now! a red shouldered hawk flew over yesterday while I was working out in the yard with a leafy branch in it's beak and a mississippi kite harrowing it from behind.

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  4. happy monday, mary moon! enjoy those grand boys.

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  5. Birds of prey are scary. My son was NOT impressed that we had one in our garden last weekend. Nuh uh. Just because they're beautiful doesn't mean he has to like them, he said.

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  6. I'd be glad to send you the inch no a half of rain we got in good old Illinois yesterday. But today it's sunny and in the low '70's. Heat and humidity will be here by the weekend.

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  7. Ev'rybody got to eat.

    But that doesn't make it feel any better when a wild thing takes a pet.

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  8. I hope that the chickens and chicks are okay. I would not trust the hawk to not be a hawk.

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  9. Yes, yes. Lock up your chickens. I love hawks. except when they have fluffy little things in their talons.

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  10. Gail- I'd have to have a million old CD's.

    SJ- I know. I can't imagine.

    Ellen Abbott- Noah got a dove. You got a hawk and a Mississippi Kite.

    Angella- I did!

    Jo- Well, he's got a point.

    Catrina- It's damn hot and humid here, too. Summertime and the living is sweaty.

    Jenny_o- So true. Sigh.

    Syd- All domestic foul are fine at this moment.

    Denise- Yes, m'am!

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  11. It would be hard to see chickens cooped up -- or any creature for that matter. But in this case it's definitely for their own good!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.