Mr. S and I have been keeping tabs on a hawk whose territory is a mile or so from our house. We tend to notice hawks, but this one caught our eye because he (!) is missing part of one leg. Mr. S saw it first – Mr. Hawk has the fleshy part of his right leg, but is missing the claw. We watch for him when we drive that way, and worry when we haven’t seen him for a while. A few days ago Mr. S saw him by the side of the road dining on some dead thing. He appeared to be able to use his stump for balance. We are glad that he seems to be thriving!
When we lived in Pennsylvania there was a toad that liked to sit sqeezed into a corner of the cement foundation of our small apartment building. Since I was usually the first one out in the mornings, I would take him around to the back of the building and tuck him in among the leaves under the bushes in the backyard. Next morning he would be back in the same spot. It was really quite a long trip for a toad, unless he had some vast network of secret passages under the building. Possible, I suppose. You never know with toads–they keep their own council.
Nowadays, I look out for the urban osprey that hangs out on the streetlights along one of the local bridges.
The other night Mr. S saw something in the bathtub that made him jump at first, and then laugh – a tiny green frog sitting in the drain. After bringing me in to see the sight, Mr. S released Froggy outside on his own recognizance.
I’ve only seen it poke its head out of its hole, so I can’t say for sure what type it is (my guess is garter). But it’s kind of cute. Every time I step out, I go around to its hole to see if I can spot it.
