Cleveland Circle and Beyond

Paperwhites blossom in our kitchen.

I took a walk to the Chestnut Hill Post Office yesterday afternoon. It is a beautiful walk through some tree-lined streets bordered by palatial estates. As I went, I kept my eyes peeled for any hawks, who are particularly easy to spot in the leafless trees. Having seen none on my way to the post office, and given the fact that it was getting dark, I had given up hope of seeing much of anything.

As I exited the post office, a squirrel on the path ahead of me was digging out stored food from the crevice between the cement slabs. I stopped, both to watch him and to avoid disturbing him. He looked up at me apprehensively, but decided I was no big threat and continued digging. And that is when a Red-tailed hawk swooped down over my shoulder to make a play for the squirrel. Needless to say, it scared us both. The squirrel jumped to the nearby tree, and I watched the hawk sail out of view.

The walk back from the post office was uneventful, save for a snowman at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

As I approached the entrance to our building on Englewood Ave… A loud rustle! And a Red-tailed hawk jumps out of the hedges (yes, the hedges) and flies up to a lamppost. That really gave me a fright. Can someone explain to me why a hawk would be in a hedge? Or, for that matter, how does a hawk fit in a hedge?

Leland Webster captured these pictures of a Cooper’s hawk on Englewood Ave.

Taking the shot at just the right moment, the hawk is caught in the middle of a screech.