Words + Images

I was in a field in Woburn today. Yes, that same field in an office park that I’ve photographed over the years. It is a small bit of green that is a haven for birds, I think. The air is always full of birdsong. The other sound you hear is the cry of the hawks. I heard it as I stood in the parking lot today and, looking up, I saw a pair circling their domain. I had no intention of trying to photograph them. They were too fast and too high. My goal was to try to capture the little birds, maybe a cardinal, a blue jay or a robin or two. I had a short window of time and was having little success. I found myself photographing industrial artifacts scattered throughout the field. Quite fun actually but then I did that thing that I like to do that I always hope I remember to do and that was to look up. There, across the field, up high on a telephone phone was the silhouette of a hawk. Too far to get a “good” shot, I knew, with the point and shoot camera I had but somehow I felt compelled to try. The sun blinded me, but I kept taking shots anyway. Of all the ones that didn’t come out, I liked this one, of the bird, its tail feathers lit by that sun. And at some point as I photographed this hawk it raised its head and I followed where it looked and there was its mate. It flew low, landing in a tree. Hunting. I was able to get a bit closer and get a better picture of it. What a glorious pair.

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