Yesterday morning I was out pruning the roses that climb high over our
back gate on an arch. I was on the ladder with my back to the house. I
should point out that sparrows frequently stay in the roses as
protection against predators. None were of course around at the moment.
Then I heard a Mockingbird squawking up a storm and flyng from the
front of the house down the driveway and into the rose bushes (all bare
at this point in the winter) right past me. A second bird followed it
in, which I assumed was a second mocking bird. As I was looking for the
bird, still squawking towards the back of the rose bush, about a yard
from me, the second bird emerged. It was a sharp-shinned hawk, which
accounts for the panic in the mockingbird's voice. The hawk banked in
front of me (I could have reached out and touched it, if I hadn't been
so surprised) and flew back down the driveway and off across the street.
Quite a nice show. And the mockingbird breathed a sigh of relief (I
assume). The hawk came back later and is sitting high in a neighbor's
tree.
Jim Goehring
Mary Washington College
Fredericksburg, VA
James E. Goehring
Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion
Mary Washington College
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
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