Kestrel Trail

Yesterday I hiked the Kestrel Trail in Amherst. A Kestrel is a kind of bird. Here is a picture of a Kestrel joined by a very unlucky dinner guest.

The American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), sometimes colloquially known as the Sparrow Hawk, is a small falcon, and the only kestrel found in the Americas. It is the most common falcon in North America, and is found in a wide variety of habitats. - wikipedia

Here is Damon about to embark on our adventure.

Only it wasn't that adventurous. I definitely didn't see any birds, Kestrel or otherwise. The Kestrel Trail is scenic but not particularly unique from the woodland trails to be found all over our Valley.

It also isn't very long and just kind of meanders along until it dumps you out further down in the field where you started. I think it's primarily a trail for cross country skiers, of which there were many tracks in evidence.

But it was still a cool quest, as I always like wide open spaces. It's good for your head.

Wow, here's an update on that guy in Massachusetts that got attacked by a bobcat:

The bobcat that attacked two people in town on Sunday was rabid, according to an official, who warned residents to be “on high alert for wildlife.” Selectman Stephen J. Comtois, the board's chairman, made the announcement at a board meeting Tuesday night. He said lab reports came in earlier that day.

Read more here.

I like this letter to the Springfield Republican from someone in East Longmeadow about the ridiculous smear campaign that's always underway against the so-called "Tea Party" - which isn't even a political party! It's a boogie man created by those defending the status quo against those who are struggling for genuine change:

Tea partiers are mostly families. They believe in liberty, limited government, less spending, lower taxes and local control – things most Americans support, according to most polls.

Unsupported ridiculous accusations against the “tea party” make no sense. Boehner and his congressmen-for-life cronies – and their Democrat counterparts – are those who bear full responsibility for the disfunctionality that exists in Congress today and the out-of-control government they have allowed to balloon into a nightmare.

Read the whole letter here.

A trial by tenderness.