The Flight To Freedom

While I was out on my hike, I stopped by the bottom of the sledding area looking for something interesting to get a picture of. It wouldn't be the sledding area this time because most of the snow is melted right now. So I began taking pictures of scenery, which I should probably show you more often. But then I saw even more than I was after.

This was totally unexpected, but it shouldn't have been at all. It was a hawk! That's what you see as a dot in the picture above, but you can see a little better if you click the picture. It's not the best shot ever, but a hawk in flight is a rare thing for me. This is the first hawk I've seen out in the open for quite some time.

The hawk was rapidly flying north towards the trees you see at the left side of the picture. I had to get my pictures very quickly if I wanted them at all. Last year at this time I would have missed the opportunity all together. Now I'm good enough with the camera that I was able to at least get what you see, and I actually got more pictures than this, but they looked mostly the same.

The hawk was quickly disappearing over the trees. I stood there hoping it would turn around and come back. I tried my best to will it to come back with my mind, but of course we humans just don't have that power quite yet. I ended up with a few more pictures of the hawk behind the trees, but nobody would ever be able to know it was there.

Once I knew that the hawk was gone and never coming back I finally decided to turn and go back up the hill. I was happy that I at least got these photos. This was a big event for me! I got a rare glimpse of a hawk in flight. Seeing something as fantastic as a hawk flying free through the air creates an almost magical feeling.  I should come back to this place more often.