Accipitrarius Sordidatus

Less than a mile from our doorstep was once known as Sand Springs.  For many it was a place of gathering, resting, trading, and, most importantly, water.  Before Europeans arrived, people of different bands would meet there.  After Western civilization arrived, it wold become an important stopping point along the way elsewhere.  Settlements were started, died out, and started again.

A town eventually appeared and the springs were impounded to create a reservoir.  The reservoir was replaced last century with a much larger one.  The lake is now a small community fishing spot, with a park and trails around it.

Surrounding the lake and throughout our neighborhood is a hardwood forest typical to this area.  On the west and south sides, the woods thrive.  There is much in it, birds and animals, remains of old settlements, wild fruit and vegetables.  Life goes on in it unaware of what we do around it.  If you take the time, and are not too worried about poison ivy, there is a lot to find.

For many years now, we’ve enjoyed the presence of red-shouldered hawks in this wood.  They greet us and follow us as we walk the trails or explore the rest.  We know their nesting sites and watch as they raised their young.  I remember being told by an “expert” that there were no red-shouldereds in this area and I was mistaken.   I tried to share the joke with the hawks, but they were unimpressed.

Red-shouldered hawks are one of many of the broadwinged hawk family.  They live in woods like ours and eat things that live near creeks.  they have a shorter life span than most hawks their size, possibly because of the parasites and nematodes they accumulate in their diet.  we know they won’t last forever.  we also know that for anything that lives outside the domain of our sentimentality, the ending of a life is rarely peaceful.

I knew on Thursday when I got the call that I would be picking up one of the pair we’ve watched for so long.  The man who called said he had a small eagle down in his backyard  and crows were on it.  He lives on the east side of the lake.   Most people don’t know what they see and hyperbole is a common element in their description of what they see.  I knew it what it was anyway.

It was the male of the pair.  You could tell from his feet and beak that he was old for a hawk of his kind.  I don’t know what brought him to the ground, but the crows had worked him over.  He was dying.  He had enough left for one defensive posture to fight me off and then had two seizures.   That was his end.

It’s a little quieter in the wood, but not for long.  There will be other pairs and other offspring.  Good habitat doesn’t stay empty for long.

For my own sentimentality, I’m glad to have seen him through.  I’m glad to have been able to thank him.

Later today I will release a female barred owl into the wood.  Then I will clean the cages and get ready for a juvenile great horned owl.  After that comes  a pair of red-tails.  The stream of hawks and owls continues.   For that I am also grateful.

What I do doesn’t make a difference statistically.  There’s no science to back it up and no endangered species are being saved.  On the surface it seems to be a lot of effort for nothing.  I do not worry if someone else doesn’t understand.

Every day I take the gift of life from all around me.  I take the water, the air, and the food.  I live because I take from life.

The very least I can do is give something back.

It was a great season,  right up until December.  Then things changed, changed again, and, just for good measure changed some more.  Even the seasons seem to have changed.   Spring is late, but finally here in full-force.

I look back now and am amazed at all that happened and not as bothered that it didn’t include falconry as I thought I might be.  We have moved to a more active role in raptor rehabilitation, doing more rescues and conditioning for release.  I also, for the first time in a great while, have a settled job situation.

My season effectively ended in November, but Smash did very well while it was happening.  Charlie seems to have done great down in Houston.   Not a fantastic year, but a good one under the circumstances.  2009 was one of those years many would like to forget and I have many reasons why for my own part.

But, as I said things have settled down now.  Smash is almost fully into the molt and I’ve already started getting ready for next season.   It’s settling in to a nice pace.

See….

The rabbit

Be…

The rabbit

Even if you have no idea what rabbit is.

Took Smash out today in the muck and mire.

He got his first sparrow just a few yards from the truck.  Then he got a  mouse a little further on.  If he and I had been in better shape and I could have slogged through deep water and heaved my summer heft over a fence in time, he would have had a rabbit.  Instead we settled for another sparrow a bit later and gasped our way back to the truck.

We’re starting late this year.  We’ve had unbelievable amounts of rain for these parts and a major change in my work environment that threw everything off.  He let me know yesterday that he’d waited long enough.  So had I.

I’m making some changes this year.  Charlie is going to head south to another falconer.  He needs some extra attention and I just don’t have the time now to give it to him.  It’s the best thing for him – he’ll be in good hands.

I’m  also making changes in work, too.  I still have the same job, just a whole lot more of it.  I let it get to the point where I was working until I exhausted myself.  In hindsight, that’s the way the last 5 years have gone.  I’ve given much more than I ever hoped to gain from it.   It’s affected everything, especially my falconry.  Bad judgment on my part.  From now on, they get what they pay for.

So, I’m doing a reset.

Of course, we have a 100%  chance of rain tomorrow.  If I can move, I’ll start building the ark.

“Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.” – Elwood P Dowd “Harvey”

First hunt and everybody came home dragging butt.

I can tell I’m already back at full falconry stride – I spent a significant part of the time rationalizing putting grasshopper kills in the book.  For as out of shape as we both are, it was hard work for him to catch his breath, much less anything trying to get away.

So, 4 “kills”.  I didn’t count the one he ran after.

Smash wore out before I did and we barely made it an hour.

One thing though, he hit weight and we went hunting.   No conditioning, no creance, just on the pole and marchign through the field.  He chased a dove and was working hard until he just got tired.  He’s a worker.

Tonight was going to be the night.  And then the heavens opened up.  Lots of wind, lightning, and maybe even a bit of hail.  Trees are down, power’s out in large areas, and it’s just generally not a good idea to be out right now.

So we wait unti tomorrow.

Smash is at weight and ready.

Charlie is coming down and should be ready by the first of September.  doing some manning and familiarization work with him.  He seems to be a lot calmer now than he was when I first got him.  We’ve both learned a lot about each other, more to his advantage than mine at most times.

The kids are basically in school now with band camp started.  The summer garden is winding down and we’re getting ready for the fall planting.

Oddly enough, we have a pumpkin ready to be picked.  Just goes to show that seasons aren’t really tied to a calendar unless you live life according to Hallmark Cards.   Things happen when they’re going to and the process is continuous.  For most of my life I believed the calendar determined the season.  I’ve finally realized that the calendar is just a reference and each year I’m finding it less important.

Except for birthdays.  I have to remember those.

Especially one particular one.

At least I can remember it doesn’t happen until after trapping season starts.

Today, being the 709th anniversary of the death of William I, the Conqueror’s third son and king, William II, Rufus, shot by one bolt of six given to  William and fired by Walter Tyrell, my 26th great-grandfather, and it also being 99F and 115F heat index with Smash 20g overwieght, I mowed the lawn.

I need a 12 pack.

It was too hot for an old man to go hawking.

My job’s ability to remain stable is non-existent.

Taking a hawk out in the middle of breeding season for every other type of raptor and songbird is not a good idea.

But it’s August now and things are different.  It is uncharacteristically cooler, everything threatening has fledged and is  moving on, and we are just about ready to go.

Tomorrow.

For sure.

Really…..

The Mississippi kites nesting over the mews now have their young on the wing.  It appears that they had four this year.  We had two pairs of red-shouldered hawks in the woods this time around.  Usually it’s only one.  The Cooper’s hawks are abundant as are the barn owls.  I even saw a sharp-shinned hawk in the woods for the first time.

We had far fewer raccoon incursion into the yard at night, and since there’s no sign of coyote or bobcat, there must be great-horned owls somewhere around.

Rabbits and squirrels are are in much larger numbers than I’ve seen in the 16 years that we’ve been here.

It could be an interesting year.

It’s also the first of August.  I’ve talked to 4 falconers in the last 24 hours that I haven’t heard from since last spring.  I’m also falcon sitting for a friend as he gets his last bit of vacation in.

The season has begun.

Also, my latest apprentice, Redcoat,  takes his test this coming Friday.  All the best of luck to him, but I’m very certain he won’t need it.  He will be one of the best.  It’s an honor to have the opportunity to help him become a falconer.

Oh, wait, spelled that wrong….

It’s an honour.

We start hawking tomorrow.

There are vineyards to keep clean of marauders and a crop of rabbits like I have never seen before here.

103, but it’s a dry heat….

Showers and thunderstorms will continue across north texas into the evening hours. Some of the storms will be severe, with large hail and damaging winds. Tornado watches are in effect for much of north and central texas. Tornadic supercells will be possible in and near the watch areas, particularly in vicinity of a cold front. By 7 pm, the front will stretch southeast of san saba, to hillsboro, to sulphur springs. A flash flood watch remains in effect generally along and north of the i-20 corridor. Motorists are urged to exercise caution as heavy rain can flood roads quickly.

We had more than 11″ of rain on Wednesday, another 2″ today.  It doesn’t look like it will let up until tomorrow night.

We’ve cleaned out the closet under the stairs a few times in last few weeks.   There are still blue tarps on rooftops from the last tornado that touched down.

They say the lake will rise about 11 feet.   The Red River and creek run off keep filling it up and the Army Corps of Engineers drain it off, sending the excess down to the Mississippi.

Spring ends late winter’s wildfires; skies change from red to greenish-gray.

Soon enough we’ll have blue skies and white-hot heat.

That’s when the molt gets the hardest.