Bird calls

[Nichols]

Ron, Del,
	For us it's a monster called Osprey. Big as an Eagle, and .... hungry. The
first one I saw dive was a "short haul" from a overgrow drainage lateral.
Big fish. The second (and last) one I saw dive just about killed me and the
hired help and whatever piano was in the truck. The truck is a step-van,
with a great view (all glass), and we were crossing the Rio Grande on a
narrow bridge. From out-of-site up high, this incredible animal seemed to
fall faster than gravity would dictate, and sent up a spray about six feet
every direction where it hit the water. Even in summer, during irrigation,
there's not a lot of water there, and lots of sandbars. Sure enough, about
the time we semi-careened off the gaurd rails ('cause I was lookin' in the
river at 35mph) the Osprey came up out of the river, shedding water like a
mill-wheel, and carrying a struggling fish bigger than anything I knew swam
in these parts of the Rio. It honestly seemed like he was able to quit
flapping for seconds between lifts, and he and the fish climbed v-e-r-y
slowly out and away. Right over the truck. (came to a halt in the wrong
lane at one end of the bridge... lucky no traffic).

As it's been said... ain't the universe great!
Guy

BTW... I was sure when I saw the subject title for this thread that someone
else was finally gonna start a tuning boycott of homes with those dern
"bird-call" clocks. Almost popped a wire yesterday, when the thang went off
in the killer octave.  grrrrrr

At 07:26 AM 3/31/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Ron,
>
>I will never forget the first -- ok, the only -- time I watched a bald eagle
>make a power dive from about 1,000 feet (about 300 m) and pluck an unlucky
>salmon (or something) out of the water.