Category: What’s Happening

We have a family of hawks that nest near our
house each winter.  Sometime in January or February we start seeing
their shadows cross our yard, then we occasionally hear them. 

• This year, they are using a nearly-dead tree
  right beside our house as their outlook post.  (It was hit by lightning a
  couple of years ago, then the hurricanes of 2004 really gave it a
  beating.  It it basically the trunk and 2 or 3 limbs.)

  My hubby and I have been trying for days to
  get a good pic, but to no avail.  This is the best we could do so far.

  

  Isn't
  he cool – at least I think this is the dad!  They are
  so well camouflaged, they are hard to see.  We're going to try this
  weekend to get some really good shots.

  Doug said he saw one of them take on a buzzard twice their
  size today.  And the hawk won!  Just dove right down on him in the sky
  and sent him hurdling in the opposite direction.

  I can't wait until their eggs hatch.  You can
  actually watch them as they teach their babies to hunt – in our
  backyard!  One year I watched one of the babies catch what I'm assuming
  was a mouse right at the edge of our property.  So cool!

  They are soooooooo noisy, too, when the
  babies are first hatched.  You can hear the parents crying out to the
  babies and then they answer in this high-pitched version of the parents
  cry.  These parents work hard to train their hatchlings
  how to live and work.

  Even
  when our human babies are small we, as parents, start teaching our
  children the life skills they need to survive.  We let them wander
  further and further from our nest all the while calling out to them,
  reminding them of our presence, of our beliefs, or our foundations.

  I don't know why so many parents today think
  parenting is easy, and then when it gets a little rough, they wimp out
  and allow the child to control the home.  We are not loving truly when
  we allow that with our little ones.  We are loving self more than loving
  the child enough to do what is best.

  Parenting is hard, and it's about sometimes making the hard
  decisions.  But it is ultimately the most rewarding job of all – when
  we can send them out from the nest and know that they can survive on
  their own.

  The daddy hawk
  tends to sit on our back fence while the little ones are playing in the
  yard.  He always looks so proud!  The mama is usually flitting from baby
  to baby, I'm sure checking to see that they are warm enough, finding
  enough food, and reminding them of how to catch the tastiest treat.

  We busy mamas need to learn to sit back
  occasionally and just watch…and be proud of our offspring.  Take a
  break today and be marveled by the miracles that are your children.

  Alesha