There were plenty of birds to listen to....towhees, cardinals, a parula, and the high thin whistle of broad-winged hawks. If you think you've never heard a BWHA, think again. You might have just thought, "Oh, that's some songbird". Their call is very un-hawk-like:
Have a listen.
So I'm enjoying the avian ambiance when I notice something on the roof of the shelter at the end of the parking lot.
Huh. Too big to be a leaf. Looks....sort of bird shaped.
Aw, hell. Is that a hawk???
(For the record, it really and truly did look like a headless hawk)
I squinted hard. And then my mind turned it into an injured broad-winged hawk. A hawk that needed my help, by Gawd!
I took a few photos of it, then got out of the car to plan my next move, namely how to get on the roof.
I was just about to try and drag a picnic table across the lawn when I stopped. Wait....it didn't have feathers. It had a .....husk.
Oh snap. It's corn.
I was about to risk life and limb to climb onto a roof to rescue corn.