Hanging Bird

One of the many reasons I love to fly fish is during nearly every outing nature shows me something new. Today it was the rather grisly site of a bird hanging from a tree. No, the bird wasn't lynched. But darn close.

It appeared that the bird had made the same mistake that the rainbow trout in Neshannock Creek make -- it mistook a piece of fur, fuzz and a hook for an insect. In the bird's case, the hood was hanging from tree -- the result of a wayward cast and busted line. I imagine the fly dangled from the tree limb and the small bird swooped down upon it, inhaled and was hooked.

I can only imagine how long the bird flailed away trying to escape from the hook, only to have the barb penetrate even deeper.

Another reason for us anglers to take more care with what we leave behind during our visits into the woods.

A note on the picture: The image is blurry because it was taken through the plastic carrying case that now protects my iPhone. See the earlier post on "Taking a Talbot" to understand why the phone now stays in the case.