I was looking out the back window of the sun-room this morning. The birds in the backyard were hoping around looking for seeds or bugs to eat. I have seen this scene a thousand times. I thought back to a special I saw on television where one professor of paleantology said that he believes that birds are the direct descendents of dinosaurs. As I watched the birds I thought to myself who are you related to. It must have been a grazer. Then I thought… whatever happened to the meat eaters of the group. Then we had an unexpected visitor. A young peregrin falcon attacked one of the grazers.
The falcon pinned its prey with its large talons. In time the prey simply succumbed to the abuse of the falcon. It was strange to see the death of this bird. Even stranger to see the killing and feeding practice. It’s one thing to see it on a nature program… quite another to see it acting out in front of the window.
I wish I didn’t have a screen in the window. I would have liked a better photo to remember this wild kingdom moment. Backyard dinosaurs… who’d a thunk it!
Cool Picture Joe. That’s nature for you. Survival of the fittest. People are just a little bit less conspicuous, sometimes. Everytime I start to feel sorry for the victom of a carnivor, I remember that steak I ate last week and think of where that came from and how it got to my plate. Bon appetite Mr. Falcon!
that is a COOL picture … in a violent, kinda way. but it’s true what Dougie said … pity … then remember the meat on the plate for dinner!
you missed your calling as a photographer for National Geographic!
I know that I need to get a digital camera soon!!!
That would be really weird to watch.
Nice picture Joe. Like Patti says it would have been a little weird to watch.
Whenever I see something like that I think of the old TV show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdomeâ€.
Our host, Marlin Perkins, would have told us what a fierce hunting machine the falcon is & would have detailed the hunting habits of the falcon as we watched it carefully stock then attack its defenceless prey.
At about the time of this picture Jim, Marlin’s assisstant, would have be sent out to demonstrate for us how fiercely the falcon would defend its prey from other preditors. Protected by large gloves and little less Jim would be expected to go out & get his butt kicked by the falcon.
That’s one of my favorite shows! Did you know that Jim is now a medical doctor? He switched from animals to people. He must have got tired of running away from rhino’s!
When I read Bob’s comment I thought to myself, “whatever happened to Jim?†Well Doug, you read my mind (which is a scary thing to do) and came up with the answer.
Great minds think alike Joe! I think his formal name is Dr. Wallick. He started out with a degree in agricuture, then became a veteranarian and then a medical doctor. He found out by doing over 3000 autopsies of both animals and people that most of them died from a vitamin deficiency. He could prove this chemically and biochemically. He also studied groups of people and found that those that lived in high mountainous regions lived well into their 100’s and didn’t suffer from many of the diseases that we do such as cancer and heart problems. He attributed this to their injestion od glacial milk. That is the water that runs off glaciers. Not only did they drink it, they watered their crops with it. They were getting the minerals our bodies need and there is over 90 of them we need each day. If it’s not in the ground, it’s not in the vegetables. Our over production of land and urban scrawl that has stopped the flooding of land from winter melt downs has depleted the land of the minerals and is not present in our fruit and vegetables. So you can eat all you want, but if the minerals are not in the food to begin with, they aren’t doing much good. That’s why we need to suppliment. Remember you need over 90 according to Dr. Wallick (Jim). The most absorbable are coloidal minerals from plant base and are in liguid form. The next best is chelated with 30% absorbtion.
Interesting Eh! So don’t forget to take your vitamins and make sure they are the right kind!
So, what we need to do is buy a glacier (how expensive can they be – just a big hulk of snow & ice, right) & sell the melting water at outrageous prices.
Making mankind healthier & us very rich.
Maybe Alaska would sell us a glacier to melt. I don’t know, though. They’re pretty sensitive about melting glaciers. Something about global warming or some such thing. I think (tongue in cheek) that if melting a glacier makes us rich, let’s go for it, even if it’s not good for the planet over the long-term.
Joe, I forgot to say it’s a very good picture!
I saw a billboard add on my way home for work advertising “Glacier Vodkaâ€. Woops, sorry that’s †Iceberg Vodka†Wonder if it’s the same mineral content? Probably very high in sodium.
Hey Bob! Want to start a business? We can go ice fishing in Alaska and come back with a few tonne of gacier ice! We can make a still, purify it and sell miracle mineral water for $100/bottle. What a ya think?
hmmm… Glaciers? Business? Alaska?
Didn’t we have a blogersation about this a little while ago? This blog or Patti’s?
Oh right, I remember, it started with otter burgers… no, feeding sandwiches to otters… I think glaciers came up?
Alaska… the land of opportunity.
I think we all need to go on a trip to Alaska!