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Homeowners Meeting Notes The quarterly HOA meeting was held April 5th at the home of Geoff and Carol Race. Several items of importance are: - Sprinkler turn on will be Saturday, April 15th. - Friday will be our weekly lawn maintenance day. - Our Crew leader from Tru-Green is Antonio, speaks English and will report to Stan Massey each week. - All HOA dues are current and reserve funds are being placed into CDs monthly vs. annually. - Approval for a neighborhood garage sale -date TBA. - Date set for Annual Clean-up - June 3rd. - Grounds Committee working on a plan to beautify Sanctuary entrances. - Two newly approved exterior lighting fixtures to replace original (original still available.) - Board taking action to get potholes filled and trash company to remove dark spots on streets. - Smashed cable box on Caley repaired - by President Andy Tysler! (Looks near as good as new!) - Next Quarterly HOA Board Mtg. - July 19, location yet to be determined. - Sanctuary HOA Annual Meeting will be December 6th at the Valley CC new clubhouse. Social Committee A very belated and heartfelt thank you goes to Barbara Sydow for hosting the 2005 Annual Cup O'Cheer. December 4th was a great evening of fun and frivolity and 55 or so neighbors gathered for appetizers, desserts and "cheer" in Barb's beautiful home. Make plans now to attend this annual event this coming December. Watch for date and location in a future newsletter. The Annual Cleanup Day and Lunch will be Saturday, June 3rd this year. We plan to meet at 9:00am at the home of Ralph and Janet Hanna for coffee, juice, muffins and scones. Those with "green thumbs" can help the landscape committee members plant flowers at the entrances; sticks and bags will be provided to those who would rather search out the errant blown-in trash and pull up noxious weeds. Lunch will be available starting at 11:30am. The theme for this year's feast is Italian and the location is the "Corner Piazza" in the cul-de-sac on Blackhawk at Caley. Come join us for good Italian food, Sangrias, and beer provided by our generous neighbor, Andy Tysler. Look for a flyer on your doorstep about May 15th and make plans to join us. You'll have fun! You don't have to attend cleanup to enjoy the lunch, just let us know you'll be there. |
The Family Accipitridae (Ak-sip-ih-try-dee) After observing a Ferruginous Hawk hunting in our area, (once at close range from our deck) I became more interested in this particular specie of the hawk family. While there are hundreds of species, this particular one is the largest of the hawk family in North America. It averages 22.5 to 26" long with a 53" to 55" wingspan. They are birds of open country. They lay eggs on rocky out crops, hill side rock pinnacles or in trees. Nests are built with large twigs or roots. The male collects the nesting material and the female arranges and molds the nest. Grasses, twigs, old bones and dung may also be used. Ferruginous Hawks may lay eggs between February and July. Often 3 or 4 white eggs blotched with brown are laid. Both adults incubate the eggs which take 28 to 34 days to hatch. Eggs are laid in two day increments. Sometimes there is a two week age difference in the nest. The young fledge from 38 to 50 days. The Ferruginous Hawk tends to hunt in early morning or late afternoon. They hunt in four ways: short distance strikes from the ground, aerial from low altitude, aerial from high altitude (300 feet) and flying from a perch. They eat primarily rodents found in grassy areas. Prey includes ground squirrels, rabbits, gophers, prairie dogs and rats. Other prey might include snakes, lizards, meadowlarks, grasshoppers and crickets. Since they hunt mostly in open country, they can stand by a burrow and wait for their prey. Like most raptors, they swallow their prey whole or tear them into chunks. They then regurgitate a pellet of fur, feathers and bones or other non-digestible materials Near the end of summer when the days start getting shorter, the family of Ferruginous Hawks at the nest experience changes. Adult hawks become restless due to hormonal changes, the cooler weather and the increased independence of the young. Most move long distances into areas that provide more abundant prey resources. Because they are no longer raising young (and are non territorial) they can move about feely until they find the area with the most prey. (Continued on next page.)
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