Well, I guess there was, but we couldn't see them. This weekend we went to the Hawk Watching Festival at the Audubon Society in Greenwich, CT. I was expecting a little display for hawk watchers, and maybe a couple of crafts for the kids. Imagine my surprise when we had to park several fields away from the site in overflow parking - who knew everyone was interested in hawk migration?Apparently this time of year, thousands of hawks are migrating, and they are tracking up to 1,000 a day. Unfortunately, because of the cloud cover (nice for us because it wasn't too hot) you couldn't see any of them. We didn't mind, but I did feel for all of those poor souls with their giant cameras and bird watching equipment.
We saw a wonderful demonstration on birds of prey (he didn't let them fly, as there was also a tent exhibiting rabbits...), which included all kinds of birds (some of whom chomped down some mice for our enjoyment) and a few reptiles thrown in for good measure. A good time was had by all (except, probably, the mice).They also had a fabulous face (or arm) painting area, and the kids were thrilled to get painted up; Miss Serious was especially glad that glitter was involved - she is, after all, all about the sparkly.
The women who did the painting were 
absolutely amazing, and took time with each kid; this meant that we waited on line for quite a while, but everyone agreed that the end result was worth the wait.The kids also got to play games, make crafts, decorate a cookie, and each got prizes at the end. The best part about all of this was that it was included in admission! I've become so weary of attending events, paying admission, and then all the activities are extra. I feel nickel-and-dimed to death everywhere I go, and am forced to become the mean mommy who keeps saying no all the time. What a pleasure to not have to do any of that!
Imagine our surprise, when the next morning, we saw this on the top of our building:
Nature is a wonderful thing, especially when it comes right to you! I wonder if all the bird watchers at the Audubon would be jealous?
3 comments:
Big Trouble, Miss Serious, and I looked at this hawk through our binoculars for about 10-15 minutes. We think that it was a young red-tailed hawk. The brown on the outside of the wings and white breast with big black speckles were consistent with that coloring. Also, when the bird spread its wings, we saw a striped pattern underneath. Our estimates for its size fit the bill, too. Tremendously cool!
I love bird watching, and it's even cooler when the birds are predators like hawks are!
Go visit Oma--you can stand on her lanai up on the 5th floor, and the osprey comes by so close you can count the feathers! Pretty exciting! Love, Grmybmy
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