On Saturday, it was D’s birthday, and we decided to go to Shaw Nature Reserve (imagine, DnA haven’t been there in 10 years of living here!)…and though it was a short visit, it was wonderful. As we drove in, I got this beautiful

TURKEY VULTURE

out of the car window:

We got out of the car as the wind was freshening, and the storm clouds blowing up..and had to sprint back to the car, totally drenched, as we got caught in the heavy, soaking rain. Biddles loved the wind, but hated the stinging rain! However, after the rain eased a little, I decided that I'd walk a bit, and since DnA gave me ten minutes (!)I walked around Bascom House...and almost immediately, saw this huge predator sail in to land high up on a nearby tree: I later got it id'd by Danny Brown as an adult RED-SHOULDERED HAWK ...and the bird's feathers were sodden with the rain: The raptor decided to fan out its feathers to dry them out, and I decided to circle around to get a face shot, and it was worth squelching through the mud and water:

I am really pleased with my MLC2 (the Canon SX10) for getting such a nice “parting shot”:

Other birds (just imagine the beauty of baby Bluebirds until I post the pic!) , and the beauty of the Shaw Nature Reserve, coming up! I’ve got Biddly duty again until I leave…so I don’t know where I’m going t find the time to do all my packing…