So we’re boxing up all our stuff for the big move later this week, and I’m clattering down the stairs with yet another armload of “Do we keep this or throw it out?” possessions to run past the BF for his yay or nay when I suddenly realize that I’m being stared at. Through the windows. By a great big bird.
I freeze at the landing and stare back, a little intimidated, because even though there’s a wall of glass between me and it, the creature perched on our balcony railing has razor sharp claws, a hooked beak and a beady glare that undoubtedly haunts the nightmares of little fluffy mammals.
“B-b-b-Brian!” I yell. “There’s a huge bird hanging out on our balcony!” Which is notable because we’re 27 storeys up from the ground, making visitations from wildlife a very rare occurrence. I mean, there are the occasional drunk hotel guests that spill out of the elevator at the wrong floor, but that’s not the kind of wildlife I’m talking about.
The BF saunters out of his office and walks over to where I’m standing, frozen, at the bottom of the stairs, my arms full of yay or nay. “Oh, cool, is that a golden eagle or a hawk?” he asks, and I realize that I’m so out of touch with nature (27 storeys up, remember?) that I really don’t know.
Lessee, Golden Eagle: “This powerful eagle is North America’s largest bird of prey and the national bird of Mexico. These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their heads and necks . . . (and) has a wingspan averaging over 2 m (7 ft) and up to 1 m (3 ft) in body length.”
Hmmm, the bird so casually lounging about on our balcony is big, but not quite that big, and it has more contrast in its coloring.
So maybe it’s a hawk (or, more specifically, a Red Tailed Hawk — I got that info from an astute Twitter pal): “Though the markings and hue vary, the basic appearance of the Red-tailed Hawk is consistent. The underbelly is lighter than the back and a dark brown band across the belly, formed by vertical streaks in feather patterning, is present in most color variations. The red tail, which gives this species its name, is uniformly brick-red above and pink below. The bill is short and dark, in the hooked shape characteristic of raptors. The cere, the legs, and the feet of the Red-tailed Hawk are all yellow.”
Yep, that’s our bird, and it’s apparently so blase about the appearance of two human beings standing actually fairly near to it and gaping, that it decides now is the best time to do a little spring cleaning:
“I hate it when I dribble soup on my bib.”
Nuthin’ up my sleeve!”
“And now I’m totally ready for my photo shoot — you may proceed.”
The hawk stuck around for several hours, indifferent to our comings and goings around the house, only occasionally turning to stare again through the glass if we made any particularly exaggerated movements. I think it was actually just seeking shelter from the Dallas sun — it’s already hitting around 100 degrees during the day, and it held its wings partially outstretched to catch some of the breeze that was blowing across the balcony.
It also did one curious pose that I’ve never seen a bird do before — holding out one leg in front of it as it balances on the balcony railing:
And it stayed like that for quite some time:
I kept thinking that my inching up closer to it and snapping photos was going to make it fly away, but the bird couldn’t have been less fazed by me and my camera. I, however, was plenty fazed by those claws . . .
***Note: the first two photos have some glare and streaking/spotting from the window glass that I was shooting through — one disadvantage of high-rise living is that you have to wait for the building management to hire window cleaners, and that doesn’t happen very often. I went around to the other side of the balcony and stood outside to take the rest of the photos, prepared to beat a hasty retreat should the hawk have decided I was a nuisance to be dealt with.
UPDATE (06/20/09):
The infamous Louise was managing our furniture move-out on Friday when she and the movers saw the hawk hanging out on the balcony railing again. I received a barrage of excited IM’s about how stunning the hawk is, and that all the movers were taking photos with their cellphone cameras because they couldn’t believe they were seeing such a wild, beautiful bird so up-close and personal.
