Spooky

Last December, January, and part of February there was a Sharp-shinned hawk that became a huge focus in Tom's life. Each week it took a terrible toll on the songbirds that come to feed each morning. Despite Tom's best efforts twice a week or so it would chase songbirds into windows and while they were stunned take off with them. On many occasions Tom was able to rescue songbirds until they were able to return outdoors. The battle of wills raged for months and finally the Sharp-shinned showed up one day and offered Tom a present in exchange for calling the battle off. For 8 minutes and 10 seconds there was magic between them and they came to an understanding. http://basecampmoab.blogspot.com/2013/02/something-magic-happened-this-morning.html Tom would see the Sharp-shinned in the canyons, by the river, and all around the lodge but true to the agreement, it never came back to the lodge. Over the last month and occasional guest would say they saw something swoop down at songbirds but Tom never saw it. Two weeks ago, two nights in a row, right before pitch black, a large bird swooped down and would land next to Kobae as he was eating. By the time Tom could get to it, it was gone. In the dark Tom could not recognize the type of hawk. But now, four of the last five days Tom has gotten an abbreviated look at it and it appears his old nemesis has returned.