Stop. Breathe. Enjoy.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Merlin Grabs dinner...5 feet in front of me...from the middle of a tree I was standing beside.

So this evening I set out with my husband and our dog for our nightly stroll...not a new occurence. We barely reached the end of our driveway (it's a city lot) when I see something streaking in between our house and the neighbours. I couldn't believe what I would witness next...

A merlin streaked towards our tree at the curb and plucked from the _middle_ of the tree, where it was hiding, a poor house sparrow and without missing a beat kept going with it's dinner firmly clenched in it's talons.

The squealing of the sparrow is a sound that I will never ever be able to erase from my mind. From the second it was snatched it let out this ear-piercing cry and it kept squealing until the Merlin flew out of hearing range.

I think it was the continued crying that got to me. I get the whole nature thing...and seeing a Bird of prey grab a sparrow is nothing new to me (I have a sharp shinned hawk hunting daily here). I don't know...Maybe it was actually seeing the whole thing unfold as if in slow motion that's got me freaked out...I just hope I never have to hear that sound again.

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