Posted on 05/27/2017 9:59:47 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
“Birds of Prey” is a beautifully executed reference work bursting with tack-sharp photos of raptors doing their dastardly worst...
This is not a book for the faint of heart; rather, it celebrates every blinding stoop, lucky snag and talon-clench of the birds that kill to live.Describing a banking ferruginous hawk, all bunched talons, angled wings and flinty yellow glare, Mr. Dunne writes: “If ground squirrels have nightmares, this is what they look like.”
The small, muscular falcons called merlins seem to be a favorite, to judge from the author’s descriptions of merlin flights near Cape May, N.J., during which “the gossamer wings of insects fall like ticker tape in the late afternoon as birds hunt.” A photo of a juvenile merlin clutching a large dragonfly in each fist bears out this unusual observation...
showing what birds do rather than simply how they look. These hawks are mating, stooping, snatching prey. A peregrine tosses a cedar waxwing to two shrilling juveniles, all in midair; a merlin makes off with a struggling western sandpiper, craggy fist clenched around its neck in a cartoonish grip. A bald eagle flips sideways, reaching under a panicked osprey for its fish prize.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Stupid Paywall...
See the eagle soar, and fly,
Dance with clouds; and even try
To catch the wind-
Till sudden movement, Raptor-sought
Brings duty back to Hunter's thought,
And dreams, of Earth-bound prey-
Soon caught.
The tiny kitten on the ground,
Dreams too: To dance!
Then spins around
When talons meet, and airborne might
Turns kitty's daydreams into night.
Please post your user name and password so we can all read the article.
Just recently has the WSJ made their paywall more difficult. The Google trick no longer works.
Some apps will get you over it.
So I’ve been told.
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