The Circus Is In Town
By Michael H. Lester
I am witness to some especially exciting hawk activity in the backyard this morning, along with a circus of dark-eyed juncos, mockingbirds, Black Phoebes, California Towhee’s, house finches, and squirrels. The hawk startles an adult squirrel, who has been camping out on the squirrel-proof feeder, sphinxlike, for nearly half an hour, into a sudden and urgent leap to safety in the neighbor’s magnolia grandiflora. The feeder swings madly back and forth from the shock.
a Cooper’s hawk
glides magnificently
over the yard
pursuing its winged prey
with frightening precision
A mockingbird and a Black Phoebe casually observe the spectacle from a high wire, as if they know they are not a target for those razor-sharp talons and flesh-shredding beak. The house finches scatter and head for the cover of the orange tree overhanging the garage. The dark-eyed junco cowers in the bushes. The hawk disappears, but a moment later its shadow flashes across the lawn, signaling that it is circling overhead. Perhaps, it has not yet captured its prey.
a large selection
of delectable dinner items
flutter about the yard—
how is a poor Cooper’s hawk
to make up his mind?
The female hawk built their nest in the sycamore in front of our house. The nest is too high up and camouflaged by the thick foliage, so I cannot see if there are open-mouthed chicks tucked in the nest crying for food.
the egg cooker
releases a shrill whistle
the coffee is done
a squirrel hangs upside down
munching seed from the feeder
