The Side-Blotched Lizard
from
"THE RED ROCK EXPLORER,"
written
& illustrated by Irene Brady
1-541-535-3189, www.natureworkspress,com
The book is available on Amazon,
only $19.95
The young red-tailed hawk was flying to the roost just before dusk when he saw movement in the sand dunes at the foot of the canyon – a big, tan Jerusalem cricket was plodding across the sand, a perfect target for a hungry hawk chick. He couldn’t miss! The hawk dropped like a rock, wings folded and talons reaching. But a frisky puff of breeze swung him sideways, and dropped him in a shrubby patch of Mormon tea and Indian paintbrush with a great crackle of breaking twigs.
He scrambled out grumpily with feathers ruffled and out of place, glaring at the cricket. The young hawk’s clumsy landing had given the cricket plenty of time to squeeze safely under the sharp spines of a nearby barrel cactus. The hawk probed under the cactus, trying to rake it out, but the cactus spines stabbed the tender skin between his toe scales and he jerked his foot back out with a shriek. He was about to launch into the air again when his keen eyes spotted a lizard dragging itself through the dunes a short distance away. A little side-blotched lizard, half stunned by a flying branch during the hawk’s crash-landing, was feebly trying to creep away. With a triumphant squawk, the hawk dashed across the sand in three great, flopping leaps, and grabbed the lizard. He crouched, peering around, daring anyone to steal his prize. There was no one in sight. He ripped the lizard in half with his hooked beak, gulping hungrily. Forget the cricket – this was his best catch so far!...
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