birds of prey.

One of the coolest thing about our apartment is that it's on the fourth floor. This makes for interesting grocery hauling (there is no elevator), but it also means that we're in close company with the birds. A trade-off I'll take any day of the week.

Kellen has a flock of blackbird friends that perch on our porch railing and beg him for bread crumbs. He gladly obliges and then we watch in awe at the ensuing soap opera of squawking and pecking (at the crumbs, not each other.) It's way better than TV.

And we're right at soaring height for the gulls, which are beautiful in the morning as they catch the rising sun on their bellies. Glints of pink and orange reflect off their snowy feathers.

We also have a front row seat to an ongoing duel between a hawk, a raven, and a seagull. What a love triangle, eh!? The brawl begins when the hawk takes perch at the top of a nearby evergreen. Then comes the dive bombing. The raven in particular is so graceful in his attacks that at first we thought he was just playing. Riding the wind like a dancer would. Only later did we realize that he had a target. Forgive the anthropomorphism, but I can't help but think that the hawk is sitting there thinking "What, that's all you got!?"

And then there's the choice perch to our North. This spot most often plays host to Kellen's birds, but recently we spotted a heron here. And then, this weekend, awoke to a cacophony of bird calls that announced the presence of this guy...

Can you see him? Perched just near the top. That dark mass is a four-foot-plus-wingspan gorgeous bird o' prey. Kell and I disagree on exactly what it his. Too timid to hope for something bigger, I say hawk (again, not sure what kind) but he swears it's too large. Eagle? Really!? Anyone have a direct line to David Allen Sibley? In any case, we concede that the true identity of this bird is "magic."

There's something about watching flight. I sat at the window for twenty minutes waiting to catch that moment. I wish I could have recorded it on "film," but, as with all the best magic tricks, it happened so fast that by the time my brain caught on and my breath came back, he was gone.

Like I said, I'll haul groceries up four floors any day for this.