The buzzard

 

I thought at first perhaps an eagle...

It isn't an osprey, and is too big for a hawk. Solo vultures are rare...but perhaps. I'm just not sure.

And then I noticed the little Mallard sitting in the overflow stream, which I was standing right next to on the dam. 

Someone else took his photo with a zoom, and posted it on Facebook. Their comment was that he had been entangled with fishing line, and various people gave suggestions to get some wildlife people to rescue it. I was sorry then that I hadn't noticed him being caught. And then it kept me from falling asleep that night, thinking about how he was the object of the buzzard's desire. As soon as people went away, I would imagine the duck might have become dinner. I felt some emotional connection to the duck, that his suffering before his death was somehow something I could have empathy toward.

Another FB posting earlier last week told of a bear cub who had been hit by a car, and dragged himself to the shelter of a nearby restaurant, in the night. When the owner came to open up for breakfast, they found him, and eventually he was put down and removed by some wildlife agency. In the meantime, the police had known about him suffering there all night, and just left him there. The owner was not happy that they hadn't been contacted about it. Again, it kept me awake for hours, thinking of the bear, then the duck. The restaurant is located a few blocks from me, across the street from a friend's home.

So I'm not sharing pithy sayings on FB any more. I liked when friends would "like" my shared things...and occasionally I would post a link to my blogs. But I think I'm going to back out of FB pretty much now. I rather prefer hearing from bloggers here actually. We've become a community of friendly people. There aren't any hateful postings (that I've received) about anti-mask wearing people. I guess they are all celebrating their good health with their tribal leader who lost the election somewhere else.

I recently read a fellow blogger's post (Forest and Field) where the remains of a predator's meal were examined to determine what had died, and by whom. It was very interesting, from a scientific viewpoint. 

My empathy towards animals suffering is much the same as I've had when my pets needed to be put down. And it is the same feeling, only slightly removed, when I consider all the Covid patients who've suffered for so long in hospitals, and then died alone and without any closure with their loved ones. I've got a semblance of need as a human being to decrease the conscious suffering of any live being.

Today's quote:

There is always more goodness in the world than there appears to be, because goodness is of its very nature modest and retiring.

 -Evelyn Beatrice Hall, biographer (28 Sep 1868-1956) 

Wildlife in the neighborhood

Does Father Robin pitch in to help feed the little ones? I don't know. Do you?

 Pointing the camera toward the geraniums, I saw a robin fly up under the eave of the nearby building...and there was a nest there.

My limited Nikon with somewhat telephoto lens, when leaned against my porch post, gave me these shots.  Sorry they are a bit dark, or lacking details.  But there are at least 2 babies, with their eyes not yet opened...and she was busy feeding them.

The only wildlife

I went up to Mt. Mitchell the other day...to take a new friend who'd not yet been to the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi (in the US of course) See my other blog HERE.

And all along the Blue Ridge Parkway we saw lots of trees, and people on motorcycles.  Not too much traffic, but about half of it was on 2 wheels.  And maybe 3 or 4 people on bicycles too.

Wildlife was in short supply however!

This is as close as I got.  I don't even remember seeing any birds.

I wouldn't have seen him if he hadn't hopped away as I walked over to the edge of the woods.  I started in a grassy area, and suddenly there was something ahead of me, which then became very still, when I became very still also.  So I took another step.  (at the bottom portion of the picture, where a lot of twigs all intersect, is a tiny frog.)

He won the "I'll stay still till she goes away" contest, and I went home.