Bird Feat

There is a rather large hawk that will sometimes spend part of its afternoon lording over his…or her…domain from a low hanging branch on a big, old, oak tree in the corner of our backyard. That’s what hawks do in their royal hawkiness you know…they lord over domains. It will sit there, dignified and proper…quite handsome really with not a feather out of place. All in all a fine looking hawk, probably a nice enough hawk, unless you happen to be a field mouse, ground hog or a bunny. Then I suppose you might have a different opinion. Because along with the lording over stuff you know he or she is looking for some lunchables. On this particular afternoon, I really don’t know what the crow was thinking or not thinking as it calmly, though obviously distractedly, cruised in for a landing…on that very same branch currently occupied by said large hawk. Now, I couldn’t really see the look on its face as the crow suddenly realized that it was in a…well…interesting situation, but let me just say this. If you’ve never seen a crow try to make a mid-air, all out panic stop while at the same time attempting a 180 degree, reverse curl, triple salchow, death defying spin-a-rama…you must put this sight on your bucket list. And even though a change of feathers was surely necessary, it remains truly one of the greatest aerodynamic feats of birddom ever seen.