A Hawk in Laurel Hill

The mountain laurels were still in bloom this weekend when we went camping in Laurel Hill State Park. I could write many things about this weekend, which was wonderful and restorative, but the thing I don't want to forget is that after we had the camper all hitched up and the tanks drained clean and were finally on the road out of the park, we saw a hawk dive down into the ferns and come up with a mouse or something in its talons. The road out of Laurel Hill is technicolor green this kind of year, with a high canopy and the floor covered in ferns. I have seen hawks in the woods before, usually harassing squirrels up in a nest, but I had never seen one dive down into the ferns to hunt. It was spectacular.