Life at the forest (preserve)

After years of looking out my front window at pavement and an endless stream of cars, it is a little strange to see wildlife around me.

We have enjoyed watching the bird village that Papa built in the backyard with feeders and baths. We've even enjoyed seeing the interloping squirrels and chipmunks who climb on the feeders and scavenge under them.

The deer have been particularly fun to watch. Ellie and I went for a walk today and saw six deer in an open field, all chasing each other in a big game of tag. They were small and didn't have antlers, so we figured they were young. When we turned around to head back, we saw a big deer with full antlers in another field. So cool.

Earlier today Greg and I had quite a show when a hawk came swooping down, straight at the window next to where Greg and I were sitting. It stopped short and landed on the deck as if it were pulling up a chair to sit next to us, us on the inside and the enormous bird on the outside. It grabbed a black bird that was hanging out in Papa's village and sat on it, just looking around for a moment before flying away with the black bird in its talons.

The hawk flew just to the other side of the yard and sat on the black bird again, this time for quite awhile. Then it flogged that poor bird mercilessly, throwing it up in the air and letting its limp body fall to the ground, then throwing it in the air again and letting it fall. It did that over and over. I can only guess that it was making sure the bird was dead. Greg ran upstairs to tell Nana to look out the window and I sat at the window watching the show and pondering the brutality of nature as I chewed the last few bites of my chicken fingers.