When the tractor was delivered the other day, it was backed off a trailer and left running for a moment. It didn't take too long for the two hawks that live here to make an appearance over the hills in the back. They circled each other in a pattern that slowly made its way in our direction, finally circling directly overhead not more than 50 feet above us. I'd never seen that before. Andy, one of the farmers who delivered the tractor, said that at his place that raptors would appear when they were working fields, looking for rodents scattering from their usual routine. Over the next few days, I would see the hawks, sometimes from a distance, sometimes very close. When I was in one of the westernmost fields, one of the pair swooped in very low and settled in a tree nearby, and watched me for awhile. On Sunday when I was mowing, the same thing happened.
I was sure that when I approached it on the tractor, it would fly off, but it didn't. It certainly wasn't afraid of me. It watched me for a long time. I wonder what it was thinking.
After my first day of mowing, I ran into Barb, one of our neighbors from across the bridge. She mentioned that she had heard me mowing, and thanked me. She walks her dog there along with some other neighbors, and they really appreciate it when the brush is leveled. The next day, after my first close encounter with that hawk. I saw her walking her dog in a newly mowed field near the creek. I couldn't help but think how the neighbors, human or otherwise, really seem to notice when the tractor appears in the fall.
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