The Red Tail

NN4004 Earl Plato

C’mon Plato, why did you mention black flies? Horror stories from friends and readers of my nature articles since I wrote about them. Well I found a drawing of mine of a blackfly magnified many times. Remember these little insects are small but able to do much damage ala taking a chunk of your flesh.

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The violent rainstorms of past did the hawk nest in on Michener Road. No remains of the Red-tails large nest. It was gone and so were our resident hawks.
Writer’s note: Red-tail hawks are our largest and most common Niagara hawk. It is in the genus, Buteo along with Red-shouldered, Broad-winged and my favourite, Swainson’s hawk. Like all hawks it has excellent eyesight. The Audubon bird book p.639 tells us, “... soars over the open country in search of its prey, but just as often perches in a tree at the edge of the meadow, watching for the slightest move in the grass below.” Right on. From Sodom road cutoff west on Q.E.W. toward Niagara Falls look to the trees on the north side. There should be hawks there on a regular basis. Where do you see the Red-tails?
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I can see well again. What a difference an operation can do to improve one’s eyesight! I can see the tuft on the Tufted titmouse.

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