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Poems and Thoughts by Frank Maurer

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An Unexpected Attack opus 659

12 October 2025 0305 Hours Grandson, Family, Ornithology
July. My grandson, Rowan (5 now), visited me on my farm for another adventure.
We were feeding the calf and the emu when suddenly,
Rowan discovered scattered, strikingly-colored black and white varied feathers.
He began collecting them as any 'nature-child' would do:
Many from the body, several from the tail, and one partial right wing,
Maintaining the first eleven primary flight feathers.
These were all the remains from a preyed-upon Redshouldered Hawk.
What on earth had attacked and killed such a top-of-the-chain raptor?
Rowan and I discussed together as a five-year-old and a grandfather might do.
We slowly agreed that the only possibility was another resident raptor--
Which could be only the summer-roosting Great Horned Owl !
What a perplexing possible event, leaving us both astonished--
Nature around us often comes up with the unexpected.