Hawks

One spring and summer a pair of red-tailed hawks nested in the pine tree above the rectory.

These pictures are out of order.  This is one of the "chicks" after they were feeding themselves.

I love this picture of the fire of the Holy Spirit window just beyond the hawk.

I called the chicks Iggy and Fran (St. Ignatius and St. Francis).  They really did seem to be watching over me.

When I whistled they would fly over again.

This was on our back deck.

This was our chimney.

I love this one.  He wasn't flying yet.

This one is of the chicks right after they hatched around Mothers Day.  The white is the chick.

One of them went after a squirrel and got caught in this pine tree.

While out walking one evening this one landed nearby.

This hawk had caught a baby rabbit.  The circle of life.

This should have been the first picture of the mother hawk by the nest.

Anyway, someone asked me to share the hawk pictures.  So here they are.

Hawks

Hawks are my friends.  I whistle to them.  I got to know and observe the two hawk chicks who grew up in the tree I could see from my kitchen window.  I consider the hawks a sign of God's love for me.

This was Francis with a young rabbit he had captured.  We have too many rabbits in the neighborhood, so you can't begrudge a fine young hawk dinner.

This was Iggie spreading his wings for one of the first times.  Wasn't he cute?

The young hawks hung around my house that summer.  This is Fran on my chimney.

This is Fran on my deck. He may have been considering how to eat cats who looked at him out the window.  But the cats never went out, so they were safe.

At our new house my hubby said he saw a hawk on the roof.  I didn't see it, but I found this hawk feather on the front porch.  He left his calling card.

Christmas Hawks

Hawks live in my neighborhood. Two hawks chicks were raised above the rectory beyond my back gate the year before this one. I became a hawk watcher, a hawk whistler. But when the weather gets really cold and stays cold for a while the hawks aren't around as much. They go somewhere else.

It has been cold lately and I haven't seen the hawks around. For the past year when I have seen them there has been just one. I had feared that perhaps one of the chicks moved on or didn't make it through the first year. I know those chicks so well I have named them Iggy and Fran and I can recognize them if I get a clear look.

On Christmas morning coming back from Mass I saw a hawk on a tree behind the rectory. Before I could run into the house and get the camera he flew over our house and away. So the next day I carried the camera with me to church. Sure enough, not one hawk but two--Iggy and Fran. Here they are the St. Paraclete's hawks at Christmas. (Iggy is facing us.)

Hawks checked in

Last year when the hawks were around I was treated to sights like this out my kitchen window. This is Fran checking me out. I guess he wanted a closer look.

Hawks in Our Belfry

The hawks still hang around St Paracletes. Ruby, the mama hawk, can be seen most mornings on top of the church. The tiny dot on the left hand side is Ruby last year before the church was finished. I wondered then if she would come back when there was noise underneath her when the church services were going on. She seems to have taken it in stride. Ruby is a church sitter.

Whistling Hawks

Last year I watched 2 hawk chicks being raised outside my kitchen window. Not directly outside, but up a pine tree. I participated in their life to the extent that I named them and I believe that to some degree they recognized me. They certainly looked in my windows and sat on my deck and chimney.

I got so I would whistle to them. I mimicked their call. The call of the young hawk. It got so I could whistle to them and sometimes they would fly over. I haven't really seen those two chicks since November. But, Ruby their mama, had a new clutch of chicks somewhere nearby this year, but not in my pine. The chicks have been flying over.

Yesterday, I whistled to one. He swooped around to take another look. I saw his/her gangly appearance and I am sure he/she is not Iggy or Fran from last year. This is a new hawk. But he/she still had to take a look and this strange earthborn hawk whistling in his/her language. It is nice to know that I still have the touch. I can whistle to hawks.

Theophany of the Hawks

I had a theophany as I did dishes this evening. I saw a hawk flying around the church. A theophany is a manifestation of God to man. A sign of God's presence. For me the hawks are a theophany, a sign from God.

Last year at this time we had hawks nesting in the tree above the rectory. They seem to have gone elsewhere this year, because they would have nested already. Perhaps Father was raising the rent or something may have happened to one of the pair. I named them Ruby and Red-Tailed Hawk. They were a cute couple, but they may have found a better tree. If something happened to one of them, the survivor would remain alone. They would not nest or return to the tree. The chicks Iggy and Francis aren't old enough to nest. It looks like I will have to steal my hawk sightings this year instead of looking out the kitchen window and just watching the hawks.

Whenever I see hawks these days I raise my eyes toward the sky. In doing that, I lift up a prayer to God. A prayer of thanksgiving, joy and love. I honor my king and my God. I am thankful for hawks who call me to prayer. Hawks for me are a theophany.

Hawks, The Beginning

Last year on Palm Sunday weekend hawks, red-tailed hawks, selected the pine tree that stands in front of the rectory to build a nest. Since I live beside the rectory I had a "bird's eye view" of their activities.

As I watched, I read up on hawks so that I would know more about my new neighbors. The bigger hawk is the female. I called her Ruby. This picture shows Ruby in May last year. She is on a branch a little above and beside her nest.

I don't really have a reliable picture of Red, the tercel (male hawk), but he was around. He brought food to Ruby and the chicks. Last year was a banner year for hawks. There had been an increase in hawk prey in recent years. There were an abundance of squirrels and rabbits. The bird population was pretty rich as well.

The factors that may have contributed to Ruby and Red's nest location were the building of the new church which provided a perch for big birds, and our backyard birdfeeder which kept the birds and squirrels fat and sassy. There was also some other construction in the area which may have driven some of the prey animals out into new and unprotected territory.

I became the quintessential nosy neighbor with binoculars and digital camera. I became Mrs. Cravetts to the hawks' Samantha and Darren. The hawks were my diversion.