Hawk Rescue

Cindy and I were driving home today when something hit our car out of nowhere.  We knew there was nothing in the road to avoid.  After the impact, I saw the oncoming car swerve a bit.  Looking in the rearview mirror I saw something brown and white tumbling off to the side of the road.

I took Cindy and Russ home.  I didn't see any damage to my car.  I drove back to see what I hit and what condition it was in.  Walking up to that area, I saw this Cooper's Hawk...

 

 

 

I could see movement and the hawk was upright so I thought it had a chance. I texted Cindy what was going on and she called the Dept of Natural Resources.  They referred us to a local volunteer group that rescues/rehabs wild birds.  I connected with someone and told her the location.  She texted me "got it" and sent me two pictures...

 

 

Looking back, if my window had been down, I may have had a visitor in the car.  Kudos to these awesome volunteers.  We got an update saying it had a swollen right eye and likely a concussion.  She will start it on pain meds and fluids before further examinations.  She said too soon to tell how it will do.  Likely going to SOAR, the raptor hospital tomorrow.

 

Here is a link to SOAR.  There is a link for "patients" so maybe we can track progress...

Click here for SOAR

And finally a little video...



Frog and toad sightings while mowing

I've never surprised at the variety of frogs and toads that I see around our house.  After seven years, I've seen quite a few.  But it does still amaze me they are all out there in my yard often at the same time.

Here is a Boreal Chorus Frog and an unidentified toad (likely an American Toad)…

 

Bike ride Sunday

Jake got a new bike and Steve wanted to get out on the trails with him and invited me along yesterday.  I didn't ride my 1974 Schwinn Continental because I wanted a softer seat and higher handlebars...glad I took the bike Cindy's been riding.

We loaded the bikes up in Steve's truck and cast off from NW 66th on the Neil Smith Trail heading north to Saylorville.  We ended up past the dam and then turned back.  A very nice trail.  A few hills but fun to ride through the woods and get glimpses of the river and then seeing Saylorville lake.

Northern Leopard Frog

We get an amazing variety of frogs and toads around our house.  And Leopard Frogs are certainly part of that mix.  This was in my deep window well today and is the largest frog I've seen in seven years here.  The picture doesn't really show the size but it could jump.

 

Just passing through...

This afternoon (must be the acorns)…




The recent rain brought the frogs and toads back

Here are two different types of toads I rescued on the same day from two different window wells...

Here and Gone (late-blooming lilac bush)

Lilacs are known for blooming around Mother's Day.  Our new bush (Barbara) was planted in honor of my mother-in-law Ruth.  About a week ago, I saw a small bud starting.  I Googled it and it's not unusual.  But this didn't last long.  Within a week it was gone and it's the only one I've seen.  But it's growing very well and I've been covering it to protect from the deer.

 

Gone...

First time I've seen a deer in our yard

When we first moved in, the owners had mentioned deer in the yard but I always felt with a fenced yard, deer wouldn't find it necessary to come in my yard.  Recently I witnessed a deer jump over the back fence into my neighbor's yard but I reasoned they have multiple bird feeders and that was the draw.

I got a text from my neighbor this evening saying "you have a visitor in your backyard" along with this photo...

 

So I moved quickly to the back bedroom careful not to alert Russ (too late) and grabbed my camera only to see this young buck in our yard.  If we didn't have a fence, this would not be as big a deal.

 

 

Here is video of the exit.  I'm guessing it was easier jumping into our yard than jumping out but it cleared just fine...