A strange scene by the reservoir this morning. A beautiful red-tailed hawk was sitting close to the path, on a tree branch - I was just pulling out my phone when s/he took off into some taller trees, seemingly in pursuit of ... crow eggs? crow young? S/he was on a mission. A half-minute later, there was a screech - and the hawk exited, pursued by two, then three, then two hawks.
It looked like a fairly typical savage raid. But just as we started off walking down the path again, I realized that there was a very dead hawk caught in the fence - and indeed, although I hadn't realized this at the time, I think one can see it in the image below. My assumption - but who knows? - is that it had become irrevocably tangled in the barbed wire. It was certainly bloody. But had the crows been doing their ecologically sound carrion-removal activity? Had Hawky 1 been seeking revenge on the post-mortem mutilation of their mate? Were there any connections to be drawn at all? It was somewhat baffling, and in the end distressing.
In other news, USC's Office of Diversity and Inclusivity has been merged with the "Culture Team," which will "continue to develop our shared sense of community." And tomorrow - still obeying the purchasing boycott today - I'm going to order a whole lot of sunflower seeds.