Taking Care During Covid-19

I spent a fair amount of time this Spring watching Red Shouldered Hawks. Covid-19 caused all of us to spend more time at home and being an optimist I looked for reasons to make the most of it. Luckily I had plenty of inspiration in my own front yard. Red Shouldered Hawks nest high in an old tree in my front yard most years and by the time the March “Stay at Home” order began, this year’s nesting activity was well underway. Having the extra time to watch and photograph them, I wasn’t sure I’d even paint them at first. In the case where there’s interesting nature activity happening, my approach is to take it in and enjoy it. If a painting results that’s just an added bonus.

What was not a bonus was their aggressive dive-bombing this year as the season progressed. I’m used to the swoops having shared their land for more than a decade. They regularly come from behind and fly within inches of my head. It’s a warning and I understand it. I have never been remotely close to this nest that sits 40-50 feet up a tree, but that doesn’t stop them from warning me. Admittedly, I have grown to enjoy the excitement of it…yeah, we nature people are a bit weird.

As my time at home continued, life went on as usual in the front yard. Hawks are blissfully unaware of Covid-19 and while I watched them I was blissfully unaware as well. Nature provides a great distraction from the modern world. From a strategic high spot and armed with a very capable camera I was able to watch and photograph this feathered family as eggs hatched and baby hawks grew into hungry, demanding squawking eyas. Eyas are baby hawks. Eyas eat A LOT and back and forth the parents came with frogs, snakes, birds, squirrels, etc. They hunted by sitting on branches in the woods…looking and listening until potential prey was found and they focused in on that location. Then off they went like a missile to the target site. These missiles took a toll on the variety of wildlife in my yard and it was a good reminder that nature is not only amazingly beautiful but also filled with daily loss of life. With this single hawk family taking the toll it did I shuddered to count the numbers related to the other hawks, owls, foxes, raccoons and countless other animals that need to eat each day. I couldn’t help but see a parallel to the daily death tolls related to Covid-19. In a strange way these were good reminders that death is a normal part of life.

The flip side of all of this hunting was that this hawk family was clearly thriving. The hawk parents were dedicated to keeping the eyas supplied with nourishment and I was surprised more than once to feel as though there was more than enough food to go around and very little competition between eyas for their share. It was exciting to see their feathers develop into a thick white coating that appeared more like wool than down to me. Watching them practice flapping wings that surely could not fly was particularly entertaining. Eventually those wings developed flight feathers, those little eyas became as large as their parents, and it was time to fledge. As of mid June when I’m writing this, it has been a few weeks since leaving the nest, but the family remains together in the neighborhood. As the juveniles learn to hunt on their own their parents still supply them some food and the squawking is endless…but mostly music to my ears.

The whole process did inspire a painting! I’m calling it “Taking Care”. Here are a few photos of how it unfolded. I hope that you also Take Care.

Starting a new piece

Taking Care

Early on

Taking Care

Status in Mid-May, Roughly 80% Complete

Taking Care

“TAKING CARE” | The Finished Painting |

36” x 36” Acrylic on Canvas