Wild Kingdom in my Backyard

Friday I  bisque fired my kiln in preparation for my students to start glazing on Monday.  Now, I have a rather low-tech kiln with no kiln sitter (except for me), which means I have to monitor it and turn it up every hour.  This means I get to spend about twelve hours in my studio at a stretch which is a rare and treasured occurrence.

My studio is conveniently located in my backyard along with a rather large lemon tree that we planted about sixteen years ago.  This is a unique tree because it has two personalities.  After a hard freeze many years ago, it sent up a sprout from the root stock.  I foolishly didn’t prune it back being relieved that the whole tree didn’t die.  Now it has one trunk that was grafted and produces regular lemons and one trunk that is from the root stock and produces LEMONZILLAS.

These are regularly as large as grapefruit and some of them are as big as my head.  At this time of year these enormous lemons plummet from the tree with a resounding thud only to lie on the ground rotting.

Since I had so much time outside yesterday, I picked them all up.  Later in the afternoon while I was working on a piece, I heard a thud and assumed it was another lemonzilla falling to the ground.  It was quickly followed by a commotion in the tree, so I looked outside to see a medium sized bird fly rather heavily over my head and away.  Then a hawk landed on the eaves of my studio and sat there studying the situation and me.  It must have been there for more than a minute until it rather casually flew to a new lookout spot on top of the flue coming from the hot water heater.  Eventually after being harassed by crows it too flew off.

I went out to investigate the crime scene and found a large tuft of soft grey feathers at the base of the lemon tree.  I surmised that the hawk had been hunting.  It must have knocked the bird out of the sky but not killed it, only managing to tear some feathers out.  I guessed they might be from a pigeon since they were all grey.   I hope it will be alright.

About forty-five minutes later, hurrying from my house back to the studio, I startled a pigeon walking around under the lemon tree in the same area as the feathers.  It flew off in a hurry leaving a trail of more small feathers in its wake.  I managed to see that it was missing a big V of feathers from its tail.  I can only think it must have been the same bird returning to retrieve its lost feathers.

So thanks to art and the process I have to go through to make it, I got to see some wild wildlife in my little backyard.