The Free Radical

Take a gander at this!

Well, it seems that all the Forest protocols have been met…

…and the mists are clearing.

As soon as we got to the power-line, we were greeted by a ‘new’ raptor hovering above for a moment. You may recall that we already have two eagles nesting on the north bank of the river, while a family of hawks are waiting at the southernmost area by the ground squirrel burrows. This newcomer appeared to be Osprey– my best guess– as we only saw her for a moment, her grey and white underbelly and wings. So many raptors in such a small area is a bit unusual, but last year we saw the same thing in the spring when two osprey circled above me in the same location for about ten minutes.

An important gathering is pending…

This young hawk led us onward… to where his elder was preparing for the upcoming oration.

A group of flickers– from the woodpecker family– were curious too as to what was about to commence.

They gathered in treetops…

…and listened between tasks…

…as the Master Red-Tailed Hawk gathered everyone’s attention.

I knew I had been invited to the telling of the tale as we found these ‘talking sticks’ on the trail on the Mesa. I placed them together on this rotten log as an acknowledgement of “message received.”

Sitka too had done her part– paying the price of admission– by pouncing on this field mouse and leaving it as an offering to the Storyteller in the sky.

He finally settled down on his favourite tree…

…and we awaited the commencement of the continuation of the story of the Ancient StoryKeepers– delivered by Rodney the Raven last year. This latest instalment was the promise of the tale of the Ancient Sorcerers… and their ultimate entombment in this magical land.

And next he spoke…