The hawk continued his daily routine, posing on a stick-thin branch below the forked top of the angular, leafless tree that stuck out above the evergreens. He snubbed me each morning with his royal feathered back, searching instead in other directions, but then he would turn and stare at my balcony. Soon after, he would upsurge and glide to his favorite position at the top of the tallest evergreen and hunt again for whatever he seemed to be looking to find. He never hung out there for long, as now another blue jay had joined the first and each day they tormented the timid hawk into vacating his coveted top of the tree.

My talisman was proving to be less-than-brave and quite timid in combat!

One morning, I looked out to see a second hawk, resting on one of the branches of the angular tree. Papa Hawk was showing off by gliding and twirling in the air. Soon the second hawk took off into the sky and followed him, copying his performance. They dove and rose in the air like acrobats, playing in the wind. Oh, my. Were they flirting?

The second hawk was larger. Oh, wow! Was Papa Hawk really a female?

Flipping through the pages of a bird guide, I discovered both flyers had the characteristics of the Red-tailed Hawk, and the female was larger than the male.

Papa Hawk’s given name could endure; his gliding partner would become Mama Hawk. I watched them come to rest on the angular tree and imagined them planning their nest as they anticipated an imminent family. The bird guide indicated the hawks would mate for life and be monogamous, returning each year to build or repair their nest before starting another family. Such an enduring, happy romance, and it could be viewed from my balcony!