Fits and starts and raptor cries

We headed in the light of a just-past-full moon and were a block from the house when almost blinding flashing red and blue lights signaled a police car approaching from behind us.

This was something new and the dogs were a little agitated. I wanted to avoid the apparent traffic stop and began to lead the dogs across the street when both the civilian car and police car tuned a corner, allowing us to continue on our way.

A strange car turned into the park just ahead of us. Why would someone drive into the park at 5:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning? I could think of no good reason and prepared to turn around when the car and its lost driver turned around and headed back out of the park. "It was an oopsie," commented DH.

We walked to the pavilion for water, passing a black park cat crouching in the dark along the path.

We heard cry after cry from the darkness of the playing fields and the woods beyond. "A raptor?" I wondered. We have seen hawks and owls at dawn and dusk in the park. They have flown above and swooped down to seize prey, but I did not remember this particular cry.

My thoughts of raptors in the darkness were interrupted as I watered the dogs and found Scruff's coughing and wheezing to be a bit much today. He has a weird way of drinking. It is as if he is afraid he will never drink again and so he drinks too fast. [If presented with a pail of water he will jump in, dig the water into a foam and attack it!] "Gross, Scruffy!" I shouted. "You've been slimed," laughed DH. [He was full of silly comments today.]

We headed back through the park listening to the continued cries in the dark (nighthawk?*). We passed running man, walked around a new batch of litter (must remember bags tomorrow), and arrived safely home.

The moon kept us company along the way. It tried to hide behind filmy clouds, but the light continued to brighten our walk until daybreak.

*I listened to the cries of nighthawks on the Cornell website - love those ornithologists! - and I do believe it could have been a nighthawk (which is not a raptor, in spite of the "hawk" in its name).