Farmington Bay WMA

Today, I gladly accepted an invitation from my good friend Linda to introduce her grandson (and her) to the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. On the way out there, because this is not the peak season for bird watching, I tried to "set the bar low" by warning them we may not see a lot of great birds. But I also told them that if they stayed alert and open to other sights, there would always be something new and interesting there.

Well, I was right. Yes, we saw ducks and geese and sparrows, and grebes, and coots, etc. But as we walked up to the Education Center, we immediately saw a Red-Tailed Hawk perched up on the corner of the building... intently watching below. Hunting. By the time we went inside to chat with Director Billy Fenimore, that hawk had swooped down for a kill. 

Then it briefly did something I haven't witnessed before - it was "mantling". That is when the hawk arches its shoulders forward and spreads its wings around its prey. For a good visual, think Dracula. Mantling is to hide that fresh prey from other birds and animals. VERY cool. Some day I need to get a photo of that.

Then, as we headed out to see the sights on the walking trail, we ran in to a young guy who was carrying a snake. It turns out that he is a high school senior who over the last few years has become obsessed with snakes. In fact, he is already looking around for a college Herpetologist (snakes and amphibians) program. He let Brooks hold a non-venomous garter snake that he had found. Brooks LOVED that! Again, a VERY cool experience.

Yes, we eventually did spot one lone Great Blue Heron. But today was about staying open to unexpected, unusual new adventures. And of course spending some fun outdoors time on a beautiful fall afternoon with my good friend Linda. And getting to interact with her VERY cool first-grader grandson, Brooks.

Did I mention this was a VERY cool day?