out my window - day 17

As the orange school bus rumbles past my house, I sit down to write. But first I look out my window.

The sun has arisen. Over an hour ago, I was excited to notice pink in the sunrise. It means the clouds were blown away in yesterday's winds and that perhaps the weather man might just be right with today's forecast. Sunny and 15C. Tomorrow should be 19C!!! Welcome back Spring!

Mist rises in the far field. I see the dust left behind by a car speeding down the gravel road, someone probably already late for their day's beginning. The horses are still in the barn. The gophers are still underground. Wyatt, the neighbour's coon dog is baying.

The hawks were useless yesterday. No dead gophers.

My hawk research produced these interesting facts:

• In most raptor species, females are larger than males.
• They fly south for winter.
• By looking at pictures on the 'net, I think we have Peregrine Falcons flying over our backyard, but I totally could be wrong.
• Peregrine Falcon's name means "Wanderer."
• Peregrines live on all continents except Antarctica.
• Peregrines became an endangered species in the US, but due to a ban on DDT, their population soared.
• They can live up to 17 years!
• They stun their prey with a blow from their feet and then sever the spinal cord with their talons.
• They can see 8x better than humans! (they have 1 million vs. our 200,000 receptors in their eyes!)
• Their dive can reach 320 km/hour!

interesting website with amazing photos: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day

photo credit: Mark Schretlen