Early this morning, just before the sun rose, we rounded the corner to see an enormous hawk flying from tree limb to tree limb. His golden wings stretched far as he scanned the earth below. We watched him in wonder, close enough to hear him landing on the next branch. I thought he might be a Rough-Legged Hawk because of his size, but he most likely was a Cooper’s Hawk.
As we watched him, we suddenly heard the shrieking calls of what felt like a hundred squirrels and chipmunks sounding an alarm. The blackbirds scattered. The whole yard in front of us turned into flashes of small creatures racing for shelter behind our pine trees, up in the oak tree, and into the cracks in the pavement. The whole scene felt oddly unified against a common enemy. One squirrel in particular kept barking and barking as the other squirrels around her took heed and went into hiding.
We marveled at how nature suddenly came together in warning of coming danger.
The hawk stayed around until the sun rose high, and we made sure to keep our cat, Louis, inside. Birds that large can easily carry away a cat in their talons. Safe inside, I kept thinking of those squirrels and chipmunks all calling out to warn each other. In that moment, I thought of the best of community and how we all look out for each other and warn of danger. We shelter each other until the danger passes.