Day 40 - Thurs Nov 1: Both the starting gun and finsih line for my school day was in the form of raptors.
While chatting with a colleague about our plans for the day, I noticed an incongruous bounce in the pine tree outside her window. I rushed over to the window just as a fairly large bird regained its balance enough to perch upright. I immediately noted the brown-streaked buffy breast of an accipiter.
Margie asks, "what do you see now?"
With some guidance, I was able to get her on the young female Sharp-shinned Hawk just before it flew away from us. I took a few minutes to explain the plumage differences between immature and adults. With an artist background, she was intrigued by the gray and orange combination.
As I was leaving in the late afternoon, a student was also leaving the soccer game. We exchanged pleasantries in passing. Then, a silhouette buouded over his head. The pointed wings, slender body, and longish tail screamed AMERICAN KESTREL!
Seeing the surprise on this kid's face, I realized it was actually me that screamed kestrel. I was able to get his eyes on the bird just before it dropped out of sight behind a row trees. He asked something ot the effect of, "what is a kestrel?"
he had just seen the smallest falcon in North America. His heartfelt reply spoke volumes, "Cool!"
Impressing a 6th grade boy with a momentary glimpse at a kestrel is no small feat ; )
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