Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[Alan V]

I don't get anything like that out of walking down a city street....

My wife and I live in a suburb of Philadelphia where the houses are crowded close together.  We walk over to a local park and back during most summer mornings.  We always count the squirrels, and our best count so far this year was 45 sighted in a half-hour walk, though we usually only see 10 or 20.  We also watch for unusual birds, like catbirds, goldfinches, and flickers.  Sometimes we see a rabbit or two, or even a groundhog.  Almost every day we see some unexpected event.

So for instance, this morning we saw two hawks, probably a mating couple, sitting on the ground in the park.  Nearby were a number of crows, as if in a show of force to scare off the interlopers.  Sure enough, when the hawks took wing, the crows followed to harass them.  They all were apparently disputing over territory.  For whatever reason, a fair number of crows moved into our area last year and have made it their home.