Honest

In my last blog I spoke of a hawk that was preying on the birds in the back yard.  Saturday evening she was sitting on the ground obviously injured.  I sent an email to a birder who put me in contact with the Raptor Resource person in town who was described to me as "passionate about hawks."  He came at 10:30pm (hmmm) and together we went looking for her in the dark with our flashlights.

Though we didn't find her that night the raptor man did capture her in the morning and hopefully by now she is on her way to the Raptor Center in St. Paul where she will be X-rayed and depending on the result, either patched up or euthanized.  I found it ironic that this Sharp-shinned Hawk that I wished to be dead one day had me searching and helping to rescue her the next (it is a female).  Honest, I didn't break her wing.  The Sharp-shinned Hawk and the Cooper's Hawk look nearly identical.  Only a birder passionate about hawks could tell the difference.

He's Baaacckkk

Last blog I told you of a real "bird-feeder" who showed up at our bird feeder in the back yard.  A couple of nights ago he came back for more.

 

Yes, I am talking about you... Mr. Cooper's Hawk.

Don't look like I hurt your feelings.  You did show up just in time for supper and you did get your fill.

What did you have for supper by the way?  A Junco, a House Finch?  I couldn't see what you caught other than the tail feathers.

You look absolutely unashamed and rather proud after your deed.  I am afraid you and I will have a long summer of co-existence.

Back yard drama

This winter I have had a few bird feeders in the back yard.  It helps feed the winter visitors when the snow makes seeds hard to find and gives me entertainment.

The birds that stay around are hearty and must have the spirit of North Dakota.

They certainly don't have the color or variety of the ones we saw recently in Hawaii, but they along with squirrels and rabbits make up the back yard gang from November till Spring.

All proceeds along just fine until this character shows up... the dreaded Cooper's Hawk.

He seems to understand the meaning of "bird feeder" differently... he sees it as the place he comes to "feed on birds."  I caught him in a rare sitting position above the Mugo Pine where the little birds scurry when he shows up.  Seconds after I took picture he dropped like a flash onto the pine and scattered the refugees in flight and in another flash took out after them.  Needless to say he isn't the most popular back yard visitor, but he will be around all summer busy depleting the small bird population.

I have a solution for him but it is not legal, nor will it pass the other member of the family's permission, so I guess we will let the backyard play out its Spring and Summer drama without my interference.

Mr. Rabbit seems nonplussed by the drama since he is too big for the hawk to munch on.

He did "give me five" however.

Things to do when Spring arrives in North Dakota

It is Spring in North Dakota and we have had significant snow in the last five of six Mondays.  Since the calendar says it is now Spring, here are some of the jobs we take care of outside because the calendar says it is time to do so.  First, we dust the snow off the bird bath.  The ice will have to wait.

Then we knock the ice off the telephone and internet connections to keep them above ground so we don't strangle ourselves when we walk outside at night.

We are looking forward to the fresh smell of clothes dried outside, so the clothes drying rack has to be cleaned off.

And last but not least we need to knock off the snow from trees that are dragging on the ground so their branches survive.  The dark spot under the tree is the bird feeder which turned into a rabbit feeder from its ground level location.  I failed to mention that we also clean off the roof valleys since the water dripping into the dining room caused by ice dams is not what we usually like to see inside as we did on the weekend.  Oh yes, we did see a flock of robins this morning.  No, they were not scooping off the lawn to find worms.  I think they head to the nearest crab apple tree to hang out with their friends to get some left over fermented apples and try to forget what they are seeing for a week or two... or three.  Not a bad idea! (Please be aware that the color of the following blog may be too much for unaccustomed eyes.)

All Good Things...

Well, all good things must come to an end and our wonderful journey to visit family in Hawaii is no exception.

It is time to say good-bye to the wonderful sights, flowers, and temperatures of Hawaii...

It is time to tune-out the roar of F-22 fighter jets streaming over head on their final approach to landing at Hickham Air Force Base...

It is time to say good-bye for now to a sober Batman who has the shades swinging behind him...

and to say good-bye to a giggling Minnie Mouse and to their gracious, hospitable parents.

It is time to take down the flag and pause for one last beautiful sunset on the channel into Pearl Harbor...  the same channel that I learned the first missionaries to Hawaii traveled into back in 1820.

Sigh....

It is time to face reality again.  And reality is seen in this picture of Eagle Lake in Minnesota (where we have a place just north of the golf course on the left/west side of the lake... do you see our place?  Neither do I)  that I snapped out of the plane window on our trip home yesterday.  The reality is that back home it still acts like it is winter with the lakes frozen and much more snow than in this picture still on the ground.  What a difference nine hours of jet travel can make in one day!  Thank goodness that air travel is not just a one way journey.

Kawaiaha'o Church

One of the interesting things in being here is learning about the history of Christianity in the islands.  The first Christian missionaries arrived in 1820 and on July 21, 1842, the grounds of Kawaiaha‘o overflowed with 4,000 to 5,000 faithful worshippers to dedicate the stone church. King Kamehameha III, who contributed generously to the fund, attended that service. The estimated cost was $30,000.

Kawaiaha‘o Church has witnessed much history. Within its walls the kingdom's royalty prayed, sang hymns, were married, christened their children, and finally laid in state. On the grounds surrounding the church are buried a number of original missionaries.  The "Stone Church," as it came to be known, was in fact not built of stone, but giant slabs of coral hewn from the ocean reefs, quarried from under water and transported, each weighing more than 1000 pounds.  The natives dove 10 to 20 feet to hand-chisel them loose, then raised them to the surface, loaded them on canoes, and ferried to them to shore... some 14,000 slabs.

It became known as the “Westminster Abbey of the Pacific,” and during the days of the monarchy, it was called “The Church of the Ali‘i.”(Royals)  Today, it is often referred to as “The State Church of Hawaii."

I found this plaque at the back of the church in tribute to the favorite wife of Kamehameha I ( also known as Kamehameha the Great, who conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810).  She was married to him at 13 and and then became the ruler when he died until her death.  It says in part: "Although spiritually proud and haughty, she early in her regency accepted Jesus as her Saviour... and labored earnestly to lead her people to Christ."

Next to the church is a burial mausoleum of a royal chief who was selected by popular vote since he had no royal blood to succeed Kamehameha V, and who wanted at his death to be buried near his people rather than in the place where royals were usually interred.  He died at 39 having served but a year and a few days.

We had some very patient tour travelers while the adults read and learned about the church.

Actually the older one was more interested in the "monster" on one of the old tomb stones.

Here is a plaque to an early missionary on the side of the church who preached the first sermon in Hawaii on April 25, 1820, from "Fear not for I bring you glad tidings of great joy."

It is hard to imagine what the islands looked like in those days.  Today Honolulu looks like this.

Here is a picture a few decades after the church was built and after the mausoleum was constructed some time after 1874.  (I didn't take this picture)

This is some of the housing of the early missionaries after grass huts were replaced with more permanent structures.

Next time we hope to make a day of "dis-ploring" these interesting historic sites.