hawkish

This afternoon, Sr. Brigid and I were down at St. Marina's Guest House getting a couple of rooms ready for Holy Week overnight guests.  While we were working in one of the first floor bedrooms, I happened to glance outside the window.  What is that?! I peered outside through the slats of the blinds. Sure enough, right outside the window on the grass by the porch was a hawk, just sitting there as calmly as can be.  The house is on a hill, so I assume he or she was looking for an afternoon snack.  I excused myself and made a dash for the kitchen, where I'd left the camera I'd brought just in case.  As I've learned, you just never know who's going to show up outside. (Planning soon to post more photos from this past week if possible.)

So here he or she is.

Of course, I was trying to maneuver the camera so as to take pictures through the Venetian blinds without alerting him/her to my presence, which was probably pretty comical.

I'm guessing it's either a female or, more likely, a juvenile.  We have bird books upstairs, and I took a glance through, but I sure can't tell one from the other; more research will have to wait for Easter Week.  Unless one of you knows?

The take-off was swift - a flurry of wings and that was it.

Life is full of glimpses of beauty.  I hope to learn more and more to keep my eyes open.

So grateful.