Summer 2011

Hello friends. I want to give you a piece of advice. Never turn your back on a hawk! My neighbor, Rusty the Red-Shouldered Hawk, shocked me the other day! I went to the lake to bathe in the afternoon. The water is much warmer than in the morning! I noticed a stranger floating on the water. I recognized him as a Pied-Bill Grebe. Before I could say “Hello” to the visitor, a movement caught my eye. Hidden under the Southern Bayberry shrub, across the lake, was Rusty. He was spying on the activity on the lake. You would’ve thought he was the lifeguard or something. But he slowly walked out, yes WALKED to the edge of the water. He slowly looked both left and right and then leaped into the air right towards the Pied-Billed Grebe. I have never seen Rusty hunt from under a shrub before. The Pied-billed Grebe was fast, though. He ducked, no dove, no grebed (hee hee hee) under the water. Rusty flew up over the trees and went home. The grebe surfaced a minute later and flew away. I decided to go to the birdbath near the house instead of taking a chance on becoming someone’s dinner.  I don’t know if Rusty was really hunting the grebe but I’m just sayin’ you never know where hawks will show up! I keep a closer eye on Rusty now!