There aren't too many poems about Red-tailed Hawks. But this is a pretty good one. I mean, it's Yeats. Can't go wrong there.

'Call down the hawk from the air;
Let him be hooded or caged
Till the yellow eye has grown mild,
For larder and spit are bare,
The old cook enraged,
The scullion gone wild.'

'I will not be clapped in a hood,
Nor a cage, nor alight upon wrist,
Now I have learnt to be proud
Hovering over the wood
In the broken mist
Or tumbling cloud.'

'What tumbling cloud did you cleave,
Yellow-eyed hawk of the mind,
Last evening? that I, who had sat
Dumbfounded before a knave,
Should give to my friend
A pretence of wit.'

Williams Butler Yeats

Not a sad story

To tell this tale, we need to go back to August 9, 2007.
During a crazy busy evening, I took a call for an injured bird way out in New Richmond, about an hour from our house. I did tell dispatch that I would go "anywhere", and "anywhere" usually means about a 100 mile round trip.
This red-tailed hawk had been caught in a net fence, almost like a mist net that banders use.
After a few weeks of rest to rehydrate, heal some bruising, and also to chow down some free meals, RT07-18 was ready to be released.

(To explain that code..."RT" means Red-tailed hawk. "07" is the year it was admitted and "18" means it was the 18th Red-tailed hawk to be admitted that year.)

The hawk was banded, boxed up and driven back to the capture site.

I instructed the homeowner on what we were about to do and how to release the bird.
We like to take pictures of releases, because it is the climax of many hours, days, weeks, of hard work and dedication from our rehabbers. It is a feeling that blends joy, relief and a tinge of sadness and worry.
Will they make it?
Were our efforts in vain or will this bird go on to live, reproduce and do the job it was put on this earth for?




And so RT 07-18 was free to haunt the skies above New Richmond once again.

Most of the time, we never know how a released bird has fared.
A bird is considered a successful rehab if it survives at least three months after release.

Last week Dan, one of our volunteers and president of the board, got a call about a Red-tailed hawk that had been hit by a car....in New Richmond. Guess where this is going?

This bird was banded. The number was looked up, and yep...it was RT 07-18.

After examination, the bird was deemed too severely injured to attempt rehab, and it was humanely euthanized.

Now, you might be wondering why I would entitle this post "Not a sad story"?
But if we look at it from a broad view, this was a success. This particular bird lived for an additional two years after it was released, and who knows? Maybe raised a few baby hawks to send into the world? RAPTOR, Inc. gave this hawk another chance to try and survive on this human-riddled planet. Our cars, our poisons, our fences, all represent obstacles for birds to navigate. Rehabilitation gives these birds a way to fly again, for however long they can.

Being a rehabber is enormously difficult, both physically and emotionally. All the rehabbers at RAPTOR have convinced me that I don't want to do this. It has been described as a "labor of love", yet it is so much more than that.

Support your local wildlife rehabilitation center. (For a list searchable by state, click here.)
Donate funds and supplies.
Pitch in when you can.
It makes a difference.

Now that's something you don't see every day!*

Take heart, gentle readers. Spring is showing up. Very slowly....

I have been worried for the great horned owl pair at Lake Isabella. Last year, I had just about given up on them, when they finally got their butts in gear and started laying eggs on January 29th. (Ohio's great horned owls get their babies started really early in the year, like mid-January)
It's been my thing to check on the nest can every morning, which I have been doing every day since January 15th. Today, they made my day.


Day One of incubation, 2009. About time, you goofy owls!
I love being able to go look at an owl whenever I want. If you have any parks near you that have GHOW nests, (if you aren't sure, ask the naturalist...and obey the Owl Roosting/Nesting rules!) you should go have a look. I work with owls almost every day at RAPTOR, but wild owls are harder to come by.
The Owl Roosting/Nesting rules:

• If you suspect that an area is being used as a roost or nest site you must not disturb it, but watch from a safe distance.

• Do not disturb the birds in any way
• If you accidentally stray close to a nest, move quickly and quietly away

So there I was, grinning like an idiot and cranking my zoom as far as it would go. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of feathers. I lowered the camera and saw a red-tailed hawk land in a tree about 40 feet from the owl nest. Cool.




Wait a minute....a red-tailed hawk and a great horned owl at the same time???? Was I dreaming this??

I slide around the corner of the shelter so I could get a photo of an owl and a hawk at the same time.



This was OSSUM. I then wondered if a fight would break out. My first thought was, "Cool, I can watch!" and then, "I could document!"
Alas, no fight. The red-tailed hawk flew off down the river to pick off an overfed squirrel or juicy wood rat.

After the Owl Glow cooled, I noticed all the avian hormones around me. Robins were chased each other. Titmice were chasing each other. Chickadees and cardinals were chased each other.
And the Canada Geese really, really needed to do some butt-biting:



See? Spring is coming. The birds know.


*Blogger says that I have used that title before....huh.*

happy endings

A random wind blows through the blog tonight....

It's Autumn, that time of year we give pumpkins to captive animals:

I don't know if Earl is enjoying these or just staring at them all day. I will check back often.


A "pearly" beak for Lynne.

Fall, a time we bury our kids in bright red, freshly fallen leaves:

(That's Lorelei under all that)


*slurp*...."you taste like leaves and cookies, Little Human"

The sun is nearly gone by 5:30 pm:

This is what is called the "Mile Marker 14 Bird", a red-tailed hawk seen at the Ronald Reagan Highway exit off I-71. It always seems to be here, and this is the first photo I have ever been able to get of it...and I have been trying for 3 years. I was on the phone with Geoff while waiting at the light, and when I saw it, I yelled, "The Mile Marker bird! Call you back!"...and hung up on him. He understands.
Is this the same bird that everyone has been seeing for so many years? Maybe, maybe not. Choice hunting grounds like this are filled quickly when a resident hawk disappears. And highways are choice hunting grounds...if you take away the traffic. Lots of perches, wide open spaces (in between the cars going 70 mph). A good place to look for injured birds, too. I've gotten into the habit of glancing at medians since discovering RAPTOR. Most of the time, it's long-dead piles of feathers, but I check anyway.

A sign spotted the other day....


"Happy Endings Nailz"? WTF?
A nail salon that gives happy endings? I don't even want to know...

I was all set

I was all set to do a quick post about....


...this red-tailed hawk I saw at Lake Isabella...




...and this rather vivid wall at a program yesterday....(Wow. That's...really....something...anyone feel like KABOOMING?)


But a quick romp in the back yard with the dogs led me to this...really fantastic bug.

A wheel bug, to be exact.

I first learned about these really cool bugs from Nina's blog. I always wanted to find one in our yard, because it seems that whatever she has in her yard, we have in ours. I was starting to take it personally that we didn't have any wheel bugs.
And halleluia, we do.
They are so BIG. I thought it was a leaf.

And it was devouring a yellow jacket. Yeeeeeee-eeessss.


I was completely enthralled with it. It's one of the good guys...taking care of Japanese beetles and other pests. I was nearly nose to nose with the thing, and then I had the thought, "Hmm. Do they fly?" Getting the mental image of me running like a mad woman, screaming and tearing off my shirt as I bolt across the yard made me take a few steps back.
Then I noticed a smell. Hmmm....did I step in dog poo or is this bug annoyed with me?
Researching them, I learned that they have two scent-sacs that it everts from its anus when annoyed. Oh boy.
Totally click on the pictures. It's really a beautiful bug.

Miscellaneous Monday

Geoff let me choose a book yesterday for our anniversary, and I chose this one:

I loves me some Douglas Adams. If you like Monty Python, you will like Mr. DNA.

Today was Lorelei's first day of Preschool. She was just fine.


(Walked in like she owned the place...)

(...and found a seat and waited for class to begin.)


I took some time to bird, but it was fairly quiet.


A turkey vulture and a red-tailed hawk spun around each other for a few minutes and then the TV flew away.




(I'm only adding the picture of the TV for Lynne, because I love her.)



This picture is just to mess with you:




(The train wasn't moving.)



I don't know why, but I love graffiti. Some of it is just amateur crap, like gang symbols and "For a good time, call...." stuff, but some of it is beautiful.


I have a goal to someday have one of my photos on Cute Overload. This one is pretty good, I think. It covers one of the Rules of Cuteness: A huge head and tiny appendages.


Totally click on this to see the teeny, tiny frog toes.

Goodbye August, you skanky wench from Hell

September is a breath of fresh air here in scenic southwestern Ohio. 85 degrees. I never thought I would be happy about that.
Here are some pics from my program today at Shawnee Lookout:

This big beautiful female red-tailed hawk usually lives in Sharon Woods, but her mew is being rebuilt, so she is vacationing at Farbach-Warner. Matt, the park naturalist who co-presented with me thought it would be nice for her to get out and stretch her legs.
(Hit by car)

Oh, it's so sad. This is actually not our red screech owl. He belongs to the park district, and in the tradition of education screech owls everywhere, the *molt *is *ugly.
(Hit by car)
Does anyone think that this is worthy of Cute Overload?



Maybe this one, then:


"Please take me home, love me, and knit me some cozies."
(Barred owl belonging to the parks.)
(Hit by car. Now totally blind)



"Let the disapproval rain down...."



This spider has a death wish. I found it crawling up the GHO's belly. I had to take a picture before brushing it off.


And look who I had the nerve to bring today!


Isis!



I am proud of her, too. She was really good. She gets slightly skitzy with transitions (i.e. starting and stopping, doorways, etc), and it took 10 minutes of slow approaches and soft talking to get her on my hand and out of the mew, but she perched out just fine and I had tears in my eyes more than once today.
She stole the show. Some people are drawn to falcons, some people are drawn to the little cuties, but EVERYONE is drawn to Isis. This is a type of bird you are NOT going to see very often in your life.
I perched her next to the "typical" RT to show the difference. It's an understatement to say that the difference is remarkable.

I am also proud of myself. I have avoided Isis for too long. She's nowhere near as difficult as I built up in my mind. I just gave myself a mental kick in the ass, and it worked. I think the public will be seeing much more of Isis from now on.

Oh, and I got a life bird today.


A red-breasted nuthatch was noodling up and down the tree I was standing next to.

Today gets an A +.

Relent...um...recoil....oh yeah! RELEASE!

Today, I helped perform RAPTOR's ultimate goal: A release.

Three weeks ago, I got a call for an injured bird pick up during a very, very busy day. I'm glad I took the pick up, because after a nice rest and some good food and readily-available water, the red tailed hawk was ready to go home. Jeff (the Tree Climber) boxed the bird up for me and I picked it up and drove it out to New Richmond, where it had been found tangled in a fence. No real injuries, maybe a bit of bruising and dehydration (that was back when it was like a zillion degrees outside).

The home-owners were thrilled that it was back, and one of the ways RAPTOR likes to say "Thank you" to people who care enough to make a phone call (or seven) to help an injured bird, is to let them be the "releaser".


I took the hawk (formally known as RT 07-18, now known as a "free bird") from the box and handed it to the home-owner backwards, so that it was facing away from him, and instructed the neighborhood children to help me count to three.
I grabbed my camera and set it to "rapid fire" mode:

ONE.....

TWO.......



THREE!
RELEASE!!!!



And the hawk is going....



Going.....



Gone.

A nice, powerful lift, strong flight, and a very healthy bird is back where it belongs.
It. Felt. So. GOOD.

How a single bird changed my day

I was grouchy today. I had nowhere to go, and the girls were in Hyper-Crazy-Annoying Mode.
I putzed around the house, did some laundry, until I couldn't stand it anymore. I got shoes for everyone and got in the car. I needed to see a bird. A different bird than what was out at the feeders. I pointed the car towards Blanchester, and headed down Rt. 28, a long, straight and flat stretch of road. I was hoping for a glimpse of a hawk, and I have seen them along 28 before.

As if Fate had lined it all up for me, I saw one.
A red-tailed hawk, perched on a phone line.
I pulled a Mary...er...I mean, a U-Turn, and stopped right under where it was sitting.

Since hawks can see everything that is going on, I expected to maybe get one good shot before it flew away. But I got many shots. Many.
Look at that gorgeous face. Proud, fierce, haunting.

"Yes? Can I help you?"


I couldn't believe it just sat there as I fired the shutter over and over. I got lost in the subtle rusty streaks and the not-so-subtle deep brown belly band. Brown birds? Please. Ever wonder if they are as soft as they look? Well, yes and no. The flight feathers are stiff, as they need to be, but the contour feathers of the body are silky. And those gray eyes.
This is an adult bird, though not too old, I think. Old enough to have a full red tail (they get this in their second to third year) but young enough to still have relatively light eyes. It's not a precise science, but typically, their eyes darken as they age.

******
Why do I get so ga-ga about red-tails? They make me think of my Dad. He showed me my first red-tail...I remember standing on the sidewalk in front of their house, and Dad pointed up at a large bird circling above. He said, "See the red shining through? That's why they are called red-tailed hawks." I was blown away; not just because this beautiful bird was soaring right above us, but because my DAD knew what the heck it was!
*****

So, I thought I was pretty lucky to get some shots of this hawk just sitting on the light pole. And then it took off, flew over the car, and landed in a culvert on the other side of the car.
And it had dinner...

"Gotcha!"

A nice fresh meadow vole? Or one honkingly big mouse?
Whatever it was, I got to watch it being eaten. Lorelei was asleep, but I showed the picture to Isabelle, and she said, and I quote: "Oooh....that's a nice, big, fat, juicy mouse! Good hawk!"
That's my offspring for you...cares that the bird gets to eat.

After eating, it hop-flew up to a sign and I got a nice long look at the red on the tail and those seriously awesome talons. So what if they are the most numerous and widespread hawk on the continent? So what if you can see one on just about any highway?
They're just GD fantastic.
And this pose is pretty close to the one on my own personal Zickefoose.
Needless to say, my mood was much improved by this encounter.

In honor of my post yesterday, here's a picture of our famous Goetta:

The package on the left is Glier's...the largest producer of Goetta. Anywhere. If you are nice to me, I will send you some for Christmas.