Shhhhh, buzzards!

There is an old joke about a farmer's dismay over a wild rooster on his farm. The title of this post is the punchline. I am not telling the joke here, but I always seem to think of that punchline whenever I see buzzards.

And we saw one today.

DH and the pups and I hurried down to the park today as the weather threatened rain and the traffic was already brisk (games in the park today) at 7:30 a.m.

In the still dim light we noticed a large black "something" eating "something else" in a neighbor's yard. And as we got closer the eater turned to profile (turkey vulture) and displayed his feast (squirrel - Aw, darn - note the sarcasm?).

I still feel the dogs' lunge for the bird along the back of my arm. But I held fast and the bird flew away - first to rest on the roof line of the house, then the tree behind the house, and finally away, away.

We decided to skip any attempt to cross the street to the park. This dance through traffic would be almost impossible today. Instead we walked along the forest of ragweed bordering the creek that winds along the edge of the vacant lot directly across from the park.

Paddy and Scruffy found loads of new scents and tried to follow more than a few into the creek. Then, for the first time, we noticed an enormous pecan tree at the back of the lot. I suppose we have missed it as we generally have already turned our eyes to the park by this point in the walk. Or perhaps we are focused on deer crossing here, as they sometimes do. Or maybe we just look down to see what wildflowers are blooming, or to avoid "Jake the snake" in this still somewhat wild field.

Whatever the reason, we have missed this stunning tree. But we saw it today. We admired it as we walked towards it. We walked around it and under its impressive branches. We turned to take another look as we walked away. It is an old, old  tree. And it is still producing pecans. It hung heavy with nuts.

The fussing of the pups prevented me from taking any photos of the tree. Be patient. Photos soon. You will have to be satisfied with the buzzard for now.

Do you see it there by the tire of the white truck?

Now you see it.

No mistaking this scavenger.

How appropriate for a grey October day!

Fly away, fly away...

We were surprised to see a row of houses, clearly empty. One was the home of the dog that attacked Paddy last year. And this house need more than a little yard work.