Rites of Spring

Only warmth was missing from this 

mid-April spring day but the sun was in

its chariot chasing across the sky warming

the yet-unclad forest below. Already red

blossoms had erupted on Silver Maples

though the forest floor remained bereft of

the glory of wildflowers. Suddenly, a small

very small dog came close to becoming a 

casualty as a nesting owl not long before 

arrived from the boreal forest swooped low 

with deadly accuracy, talons outstretched

but the dog's companion was having none 

of it and back up swept the challenged bird 

to her nest of owlets. In the stream bursting 

with snowmelt dividing the forest another 

annual returnee regally held audience to the 

few fish that surfaced. Small, furred wildlife 

re-awakened from their semi-hibernation 

face other challenges now with the return of 

sharp-shinned hawks prepared to nest and 

raise their broods as the raptors coast on the 

updrafts, whistling their domination of the 

skies, leaving the ground prey to the owls

the resident territorial coyotes and red foxes.