This vibrant hawk was eating breakfast and was ready to take on the world this morning. Another hawk was sitting atop a nearby utility pole, just being an observer, but perhaps waiting to swoop in and feed on the remains. It was the threat calls uttered by nearby passerine birds during my bicycling past that meant some human sort of attention was given to the situation.
This seems to be a female, because of size differences. A decent distance was kept away from this beautiful hawk to ensure that it could continue to feed as needed to survive. There were a couple of glances that conveyed some questioning about a tall intruder. My presence was done in a manner to never be excessively intrusive and certainly never a threat. The hawk continued to feed on some unknown prey upon my departure along the street. A guess about the food? Perhaps a rabbit nest?
The sheer intent and veracity of this bird is dramatic. It obviously conveys: don't take from me what is mine because there might have some interloper threatening survival. With its sort of perspective, may this bird thrive! The photo is the not the best of those taken but chosen for display because the character. It is the intensity that was captured and something to appreciate. What is surprising is the extent of feathers on the hawk's legs.
Perhaps a reason for the situation is that a Great-horned Owl that was heard during the night in some nearby trees.
A few Purple Martin were moving in the beautiful skies of the morning with such beautiful clouds, that myself and another visitor to the Walnut Hill Reservoir were visually gushing. After we enjoyed our own space as the clouds passed and the sun began to shine, the significance of the clouds were discussed (with one opinion comparing them to facets of the skin, and its textures and subtleties). The value of the green space was obvious. Even the local Chimney Swifts (at least nine) seemed happy as the bird clan, including what had to young of the year twittered overhead. The bird moment of the day was explaining to a fellow aficionado of skies that the little birds were not bats, but bug-eaters that live in chimneys.
Can't forget the nighthawk, nuthatch, a little bunch of chickadees saying "hello" in their merry refrain, robins of course, the voice of the cardinal, downy woodpecker, the mournful sound of the mourning dove. The House Sparrows enjoy the calm of the evening when they can get a fresh drink, once the human visitors depart to dry off and get warm. There was an subtly expressive Eastern Wood-Pewee, and the nice sound of a Chipping Sparrow, as well. A crow was off in the distance somewhere.
Any visit on a hot summer day - because a best fountain in Omaha is here - for residents of buildings is about the water. "IT IS TOO COLD" was a common refrain heard during my late July interlude one day.