today was a really weird weekdaily walk. i decided to do the Nooks and Crannies of the southwest corner. wild things always seem to happen in the way less developed west side of the park. and today was just another day of that. i first saw evidence of a big raptor fight – feathers strewn everywhere. i looked up for owls and thought i saw the back of maybe a Barn Owl? that’d be weird, right? but it never moved, and i never got a great look at (per the crap photo below). i did come across the victim (see below if you’re ok looking at such things). i still think an owl did it! walked past 4 random shoes in front of a tree. art? i soon therafter encountered a ton of crows harrassing a raptor on JFK. while watching this, i noticed a stinging feeling on my hip. and i was definitely bit by something that made me feel like i was injected by severe poison. fun! Brian thought it might be a bee sting. then there were two bites that now look like rashes under my damn jeans. if i had a dime for every time i was bit by something… it is a jabbing pain i have never experienced before. like someone put a needle into me, injected me with a ton of poison, and left the needle in. i hobbled back to my car, holding onto my hip and probably looking very strange as i frequently muttered to myself, “What the hell WAS THAT??” on my way back to my car, i heard and watched a couple juvenile Red-tailed Hawks crying like crazy at all the crows that were giving them endless grief. their crying matched my internal crying, so it was kind of an unintentionally compassionate walk back. after getting home, inspecting the bites and dealing with them, i’m on the couch just feeling lousy. and i look up across the way to the house opposite us and see a frickin’ juvenile (?) Cooper’s Hawk just chillin’ on a roof edge. looking at me looking at it.
JUST A TOTALLY WEIRD AFTERNOON, FOLKS.
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The Afternoon Naturalist