Sunday, February 28, 2010

Cool Hand Hawk

A bird walk Saturday afforded one of my most delightful contacts with a bird of prey; possibly the coolest customer I have come across. For you see, in the pursuit of two foraging Pileated Woodpeckers, I walked right past this juvenal Red Tailed Hawk without ruffling one of his feathers. It wasn't until I got some ten yards upwind before I noticed this handsome specimen, perched no more than five feet above the ground. It was clear as I watched from this new position that our friend the hawk was perfectly aware of me and the noisy Pileated which was working a tree near both of us. Yet it looked at each of us with serene detachment. I suspect it may have already had a full breakfast, as it also gave the barest attention to an Eastern Phoebe which passed between hawk and human. What a marvelous encounter! In the following twenty minutes, each of us moved on to some new distraction. The Phoebe darted into the deep woods. The Pileated elected to test some new snag for insects. And eventually the human backed off and pursued signs of new trout lillies in the understory. Only Cool Hand Hawk remained. Calm, detached, and impressive.

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