“She Who Must Not Be Named” was away most of the day – one of those luncheon/shopping trips she and her girlfriends like to do. I had intended to go up to the top of Hawk Mountain, visit the wildlife sanctuary, and hike up to the north lookout taking some articles to read with me. I could get some much-needed exercise, catch up on my professional reading, and could count on spotters on the sanctuary staff to alert me if anything worth seeing appeared.
Well, with one thing or another I never got up to the sanctuary and didn’t finish reading all the articles either. It was one of those days. Late in the afternoon, feeling guilty, I decided to go walking near the base of the mountain. Maybe I would get lucky and see some raptors. At the least I would get some exercise [did I mention it was much needed?].
The weather was superb – warm with a good breeze, clear sky; an ideal day for birding [clear skies are good for solitary birding, a few scattered clouds are good for group watching because they provide convenient reference points when you are trying to tell someone just where to look to check out that bird you think you just saw]. I started down a country road, then turned off and walked through fields. The first hour was pretty dull – four crows, a turkey vulture [in the first picture above], and assorted robins, swallows, etc. I did get a few nice pictures of trees and flowers. Then I made the turn and started for home. [continued...]
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