Just another Red-tailed Hawk

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but based on my previous post, and the revelation that I was looking for the Red-shouldered Hawk, that has been seen near Windsor, Colorado I am a bit disappointed to have this as my featured bird in this post.
OK, not really. It was a gorgeous bird in the still early light, and the visit to the Kodak Watchable Wildlife Area was worth the drive. I just did my walking in the wrong half of the area, and (as noted) my time was not all my own this past weekend, so I didn't have the time to explore the area where another birder reported seeing the bird. Hopefully I will be able to get back up there soon.
On to more important, and less birdy matters! The Minnesota Vikings, (American Football Team), won their first playoff match up in convincing style and advance to the NFC Championship game next week. Don't worry Colorado readers, I am still a Bronco fan, as I have been for my adult life, but the Vikings were the team of my childhood, and until Minnesota gets its Superbowl monkey off its back myself and millions of Minnesotans will be quietly hoping that this could be the year. Of course history has taught us, and outwardly we will brace for, yet another calamitous collapse - but needless to say yet another week will go bye where birding will come second on Sunday.
More important, in a values sense, is that today is my Bonfils blood donation day. Many birding blogs have noteworthy charitable organizations associated with them, and I made a decision a while back to promote the importance I place on giving blood and organ donation. I have been doing this for a couple of years now, and gladly follow in my Dad's footsteps as he donated regularly as I was growing up. With the recent tragic earth quake in Haiti the decision to give blood is more visible than ever. In my area Bonfils handles the local Blood supply for Colorado, but in many areas in the US and internationally that responsibility is met by the Red Cross. While your blood donation may not be sent directly to Haiti, keeping your local blood supply full allows excess blood to be shared with regions hit by unexpected crises. So if you, like I, have been moved to make a financial charitable contribution on the heels of the suffering that we have all seen, please also consider making one additional donation before the media blitz ends.