The Telltale Tail

It was a cloudy quiet day on Fishers Island, as grass and dirt rested between soft rain showers. As I rode down the hill west of the oyster farm, I spotted an idle shape above me, a bird perched on one of the Four Corners’ telephone poles.

At first glance, I thought it was the bird all of us on Fishers know and love—the Osprey. As I passed the pole, however, looking back to admire the animal’s summer coat, I spotted the telltale…tail of a hawk.

Rust red feathers emerged from under the bird’s closed wings. Only then did I know for sure that this was not the Osprey but in fact a Red-Tailed Hawk waiting and surveying for its dinner.

Gardner Thors, Fishers Island Sentinel