Birds of a Feather

I saw something the other day while zipping along on the highway that I hadn't seen before -- a hawk and a songbird perched next to each other on a utility line.  They were seated quite close to each other, but with the hawk facing one way, the songbird the other.  Their heads were cocked in opposite directions, too, as if neither one was paying much attention to the other.  As I drove by, I couldn't help but wonder what the two birds were thinking about.  Considering there was such an expanse of wire for them on which to perch, I also wondered why they chose to sit so closely together, yet ignore the other one's presence.  Perhaps each was thinking that the other one was "for the birds"!

Like a Hawk

With the landscape subdued in shades of tan, taupe, brown and white these days and the trees bare silhouettes, I found it easier one recent day while traveling west to see two hawks.  Then, about a week later while traveling in the opposite direction, I spotted four more hawks.  Each of the hawk encounters was the same: Perched at the top of deciduous trees or directional signs, still sentinels scanning the landscape for a tasty morsel. Might those tasty morsels have been mice moving with stealth through the remaining random corn stalks or burrowing through the snow? I feel so fortunate when I get to witness such scenes in nature, when my life slows down sufficiently to see these beautiful sights. Those recent wintery days were a gift.