Hawk and Housewren

A loud gutteral call came from high above us---Moe and I having coffee on the deck again. Sort of a cross between a blue jay's caw and a crow's---yet unlike either. More bird-like than squirrel, but we were unable to identify it. Until just now, arriving on swing at 10:30, I hear it again, flying overhead, approaching---a duck or goose, I wondered? Then across the open center sky of the backyard, just above canopy level of the trees around edge of yard, flew a brown hawk, emitting the same gutteral call we heard this morning. Another mystery solved.

BUT---it brings little satisfaction on this day because I MISSED the housewrens' fledge! Too quiet, the house, at 10:45. Beyond disappointed, I cling to the hope that maybe they're sleeping and parents are away taking advantage of a moment to rest. But now I hear the same definitive squalling in the azalea thicket that, just yesterday morning, came from the rhombus shaped bird house. I walk back to investigate. Sure enough, a bunch of tiny tiny houswrens ( I counted 5, maybe 6) flew, as I approached, to low branches in The Wayback. Two sat squalling from the shed roof. Others cavorted nearby, fluffing. Perhaps I only JUST missed them. Alas, I calculated the days and waited long to see the glorious moment, only to miss it on Day 45. Makes me realize how lucky I was to share it with the nuthatches earlier this spring, at a time when I least expected it. Grace enough for one season. dkm