Red-Shouldered Hawk

Sometimes the more frequent handwashing results in a surprise observation through the window above my kitchen sink. After putting away some groceries last week…just as I was finishing up the soap and water routine, I glanced at the sycamore tree and saw a larger bird that I expected there. It was a red-shouldered hawk! I alerted my husband and he grabbed his camera to try to get a picture. I went upstairs to my office because all my cameras were there. I got three pictures from my office window before it flew down into the chaos garden at the base of the sycamore…not visible from my vantage point upstairs.

My husband got a picture too, but he groused that the window had too much glare.

It was the most exciting minute of our day!

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There are two virtual birding festivals coming up this weekend…visual treats for the Valentines weekend:

The Niagara birding festival is free – Feb 12-14 - http://www.birdsontheniagara.org/ - 19 species of gulls….sometimes arctic species like snowy owls.

The Laredo birding festival is $25 – Feb 13 – this is the one we went to last year just as the pandemic was beginning – not sure how much will be virtual local field trips but that area is very unique with lots of tropical and subtropical birds…I got the best look ever of a great horned owl there….and road runners…and an Audubon’s oriole and white pelicans feeding together (like a ballet, all dipping their heads to feed in unison) https://riograndeinternationalstudycenter.formstack.com/forms/9th_virtual_laredo_birding_festival

I like the little surprise of seeing a bird I don’t expect to see in our backyard…gives a little serendipity to the day. It’s also a good feeling to realize that I am learning to recognize birds that I didn’t a few years ago. The pandemic has given us all a time out….and an extreme ‘learning experience.’ I am choosing to focus on the positive lessons.