Hawks and Flowers

I rolled back to my favorite sitting spot, the St. John's County Arboretum. A life time of hunting taught me to sit still, for hours if need be, and if you're observant, it isn't boring. All sorts of little details catch your eye, tiny birds moving leaves, Anoles moving on a tree trunk, or a Squirrels ear twitching. You can notice all these, and still keep your mind active, there is always something to contemplate, if you have the habit.
I don't hunt these days, I tried to pass it on, but, today's kids have music stuck in their heads, the wrong music. They twitch, they shake, they pop their fingers, and every critter for a quarter mile knows they are there. There are exceptions, of course, I just never found one personally. My daughter grew up as a hunter, my grandson has little interest.
I had my little old Olympus C2100 with me, got a few shots of a bee in a flower, watched birds fly by too far away, and soaked up the Sunshine.
Way down the road I saw a little speck coming in, and it seemed to land. It was getting near time to come home, so I headed out, the speck turned into a Red Shouldered Hawk, most likely a male, on the power line. I can get pretty close to those guys, they all know I'm harmless by now. He let me get several shots. The males are angular, gnarly, and sinewy little guys, the females run to the plump side. Not a thing wrong with that, LOL. A couple more generations of hawks, and they won't know how to land, unless there is a wire somewhere close. A bird on a branch makes a much nicer picture than a bird on a wire, but the wires are just too convenient.

ARBORETUM

RED SHOULDERED HAWK