THAT'S NOT A PARTRIDGE IN THE PEAR TREE

GOSHAWK IN AN ORIENTAL PEAR TREE

Tuesday, 8:30 AM.  25 degrees F at the ferry dock, 23 on the back porch.  Wind variable and calm, humidity 88%.  The sky is overcast and there is some fog.  Snow showers are expected later. The barometer is still declining, now at 29.50".  The balance of the week is predicted to be partly sunny and somewhat colder before warming up again.  It's the same old same old.

   We got back back from Milwaukee about 6:30 PM yesterday, road weary but pleased with our trip and visits, and with Joan recovering from her carpel tunnel operation very well.  Now it will be my turn, so there will be no further posts for a few days and upon my return I will be typing one handed, hunt and peck method, while my left arm is in a sling (or I guess I could say "while it's slung").

   All I can say about the trip is that it's winter throughout Wisconsin, pretty bleak and snow covered, except in Milwaukee, where the grass is evident, if not greener. The Wisconsin River is mostly frozen where it snakes several times under I39, except one spot where there is a paper mill upstream and the water is warmer.  We did see some turkeys north of Madison on I39, catching a bit of fleeting sunshine on a south facing hill,  but little else was moving except crows and a few hawks.

   My big entertainment, besides watching the Packers trounce New York, was a few minutes of bird watching at Joan's sister Marlene's feeder, where I sat for a few moments in the truck and saw a goshawk (I think I am correct) swoop in and pluck a hapless starling from the porch railing, far too quickly for me to photograph the brief drama.  We won't waste time mourning the starling's demise.  

   Immediately thereafter,  the hawk in the photo arrived and perched in an oriental pear tree, but the birds were frightened off and I got tired of waiting for the second hawk to catch its dinner.