chas wrote:I remember when I was a kid knowing that in my lifetime the only way I'd get to see a bald eagle would be to go to Alaska.
That's what I thought, too. Imagine the cognitive dissonance when I saw one circling over an industrial park in St. Paul. And that was a few years back. Since then I've seen one or two overhead in my neighborhood. Both locales aren't far from the Mississippi River, though, so it's not as if there's no practical reason for a sighting. What is notable is that some seem to have adjusted even to the hurly-burly of urban settings, so long as there's a food source.
chas wrote:My new avatar is a hawk I snapped in my yard a couple weeks ago.
Nice. Red Tailed, maybe?
I haven't seen coyotes in town yet, but I suppose the day will come. I was camping at a hobby farm and at nightfall got to hear plenty of them all at once, though. No mistaking them for wolves: I don't know whether to call them enthusiastic, or insane. No howls, but there was this mad, unruly chorus of a complex language of yips, yelps, barks, chitters, chatters, moans, warbles, and whimpers. Went on for quite a while, and it was
loud. Seriously, the first thing that came to mind was a crowd of teenagers at the mall. One of the other campers, a fellow who lives in the 'burbs and also has coyotes, told me that an evening ruckus like that is typical.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician