Heather Saunders Estes

I don’t know how many of you ever watch the live cameras. In the Bay Area I have watched the osprey nest on the Richmond Bridge, the peregrine falcon cam on the UC Berkeley Campus, and this live camera on the grounds of the Presidio in San Francisco. Internationally, there are so many more live cams, often recording 24 hours a day. There are manatees in Florida, flamingos, lions, elephants and one of my other favorites, flying foxes. It is almost like they are in the room as I watch them LIVE.

Red-tailed Hawk
Night Vision Live Cam: 2:00 AM

Rendered in shades of gray,
sharp beak tucked under breast feathers—
it is sleeping.
Feathers slowly lift and fall,
like the sides of a cat curled on a lap.
It is very dark outside here, only a few street lights.
I feel the warmth of the bird in the night,
solid through its softness,
two eggs underneath,
requiring nothing of me.