Never a Dull Moment

Dear Reader,

I never cease to be surprised at how the most seemingly routine days can dissolve into whirlwinds of interesting, unexpected events.

Yesterday I went out to the Park to do some raking. I was late, as per usual, and beating myself up for it because it was a beautiful, and somewhat warm day for early December. As I was walking along the Service Road towards 101st St., I saw two men looking at something and pointing their picture-phones. As I got closer I saw something on the ground, near a tree; it looked like a bird, but I couldn't tell what kind, its condition, or anything else.

I got into the Park and walked towards the tree as the men walked away. As I rounded the tree that was the point of interest, I saw something amazing. Here was a red-tailed hawk, standing on a pigeon (thankfully, dead) and guarding it from intruders! He (presumably) had been working on his meal, if the feathers around him were any indicator. But he was now simply standing there, watching these large, two-legged animals gawk at him.

I was really entranced, but at least had the presence of mind to wave off a woman and her daughter, who were approaching with their obviously perky, curious dogs. They were thrilled when I explained what was going on; the Mom took a photo and the daughter was actually amazed. It's hard to get New Yorkers to react that way, but something like this brings it out.

I fussed around with my phone-cam; I had to delete photos to take more. I don't want to get a new phone, but I need a digital camera I can carry with me in the Park all of the time. Anyway, I finally was able to take some pictures of the dinner guest:


















The left photo is a profile; the right is a face shot. If you look closely, you can see a little white feather in the tip of his beak. It was truly stunning. I could see, in walking around him full circle, that he had his tail (rusty red) and wings spread low so as to cover his prey. His head turned almost 3/4 of the way around as he followed me to be sure I wasn't going to try and take his food. I stayed around for a while and waved over folks and their dogs; all were happy to cooperate once they saw what was going on.

I finally felt the foot traffic had diminished enough so I could get along with my work. I had planned to work in that area anyway, so I first walked away to do the trash collection; I was then going to come back to rake some, and keep an eye on the visitor. The best-laid plans...

As I began to fall into my routine, picking up trash on my way to the benches to put my tool bag down and begin raking, a lovely dog who had come through earlier ran over to the hawk, who had felt safe enough to begin eating again. There was also another dog coming in, but it was the approaching lanky white dog who finally caused the hawk to grab its meal and fly off. Another, larger hawk followed; I can only surmise that this was either a parent or a mature male. I was disappointed to see the "dinner guest" leave, but relieved that he was able to fly. I had been concerned that he was on the ground because he was injured in some way; his departure indicated that he was fine.

The dog, Mattie (I think) was a beautiful and very happy greyhound. As she ran back to her owner, I was in the process of picking up a big stick and throwing it. Her owner also started coming over to me, I think to apologize for his dog scaring the hawk away. At some point Mattie started running to me and jumped up on me. Now, this is a tall dog; I thought she was an Afgan, until her owner told me she was a hunting greyhound. In any event, I got a doggie head-butt; she banged into my nose at full speed when she jumped up, and as I gave her a pet and said "hi" to her, I (and her owner) noticed there was blood dripping from me, profusely.

I've never had a major nose-bleed. No fun, mostly because there's really no pain, but the damn thing won't stop! To his great credit, Mattie's owner stayed with me until I stanched the blood-flow; fortunately, I had enough napkins on hand to keep up with the bleeding and finally got it under control. I think the poor man thought I was angry or something; I was so NOT angry. How could I get mad at a lovely, happy dog running over to say "Hi?" I could have been irritated because she was off leash, and "legally" all dogs in the Park are supposed to be on leash at all times (except in the dog runs). However, one of my "things" in my area is that I'm okay with dogs being off leash as long as the owners are certain their dogs will not run into the street, or attack anyone, human or animal.

So, my entire work plan for the day was gone. I finally was able to do some raking and managed to pick up all of the trash I saw, but this is how it goes sometimes. I got out late, but my timing was perfect for getting a great look and photos of the hawk; I met a lovely dog and a nice owner; I saw one of my Park friends and his dog; and ultimately, I got some raking done. I have to stop beating myself up for getting out late, as things always seem to work out. Boy, I love the Park!

More to come,
Catbird