Cat's Tail in the Door

The weather has been mild enough that even with my small handicap I have been able to sit outside more often and watch the brown winter struggle to remain the owner of the season.  

Yesterday the sky was filled with the sound of a cat dying.  Not a pleasant sound unless you are a raptor fan such as I.  A male Red Shouldered Hawk was singing to his mate while dancing high in the blue sky.  He soared up becoming a distant silhouette with a call that is similar to what a cat might make if you slammed its' tail in your front door.  He then spiraled elegantly for a while as the sound echoed again and again in the winter air.  In an instant he then collapsed his wings tightly into two sharp arrows and made a nose dive toward the area of the female.  The fall is so fast and frightening he certainly must be breaking the sound barrier as well as risking his life.  It would be very heart-stopping if you were with him in this command performance.
At the last minute he pulls up and starts the dance all over again.  He must have captured her heart because we saw the pair doing the love dance on the high branch of a locust tree a short time later.  That dance lasted such a short time considering the aerial performance that had seduced her in the beginning.  Oh well, looks like there will be baby red-shoulders in the woods this spring.