Being a kid at heart (and mentally) I've occasionally enjoyed flying a little styrofoam remote-control airplane on calm mornings this summer. I usually do this at the West Wind Golf Course where the only birds affected are the Barn Swallows which often buzzed around it in August presumably thinking it was a predator.
On Monday morning my little plane became the prey as it cruised northward over the Pine Park football field. An immature Red-tailed Hawk flew out of the woods at the north end to investigate. As it closed on the little airplane, dwarfing it by magnitudes, I had thoughts of major damage or losing the plane altogether. I gave it full throttle and dove; the hawk veered toward it, but then continued southward to land in the pines at the south end of the field from where it watched the plane's next several journeys, all of them much closer to me until the hawk left the area!
On Monday morning my little plane became the prey as it cruised northward over the Pine Park football field. An immature Red-tailed Hawk flew out of the woods at the north end to investigate. As it closed on the little airplane, dwarfing it by magnitudes, I had thoughts of major damage or losing the plane altogether. I gave it full throttle and dove; the hawk veered toward it, but then continued southward to land in the pines at the south end of the field from where it watched the plane's next several journeys, all of them much closer to me until the hawk left the area!
Then yesterday afternoon while prepping my bird boxes in the woods across the road, I found a Flying Squirrel on a nest in one box. Assuming it would stay hidden as long as I was up the tree next to its box, I began patch-painting around the opening. Suddenly the squirrel was on my wrist which I instantly flicked (yelling, "Hey!") but not before the squirrel had already leaped from there to a nearby branch and then down the tree. I can recommend both experiences for anyone wanting an adrenalin rush.
- Ric
- Ric
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