Harris Hawks lift off from my glove,
soar straight up in the sky to fly,
and land precisely back with Jim.
Flying hawks is incredible.
Lethal precision hunters,
they are woe to birdies in the sky,
and critters fleeing on the ground.
They are savage beauties,
and magnificent creatures.
Cheers to you from the Harris Hawks~
Please click to enlarge. Hawk landing!
Preparing to launch.
Launching. Note hawk in the back preparing to follow.
Another launch.
Freedom!
The joy of flight!
Responding to call and returning to glove.
Landing.
Landing for Jim.
Coming home! Oh don’t you wish you could fly?
We are on the road now en route to a family mountain ski trip for the holidays. Today we found and got close to more wild red tails and a barn owl. Stay tuned for Pt. IV, the red tails flying close ……and maybe an owl or two!
Cheers to you from the road!
Meet the Harris Hawks! Click to enlarge. Please stay tuned to my next post (pt. III and maybe IV) to watch all the hawks in flight, what a sight!
Here’s a sneak preview of them launching off! It was amazing to call them back to glove!
We flew two Harris Hawks who usually hunt cooperatively in groups of 2-6, enabling them to catch larger prey like jack-rabbits.
Harris Hawks are native to the southwestern United States, Chile and Argentina. The silver device you see on the hawks leg is a telemetric tracker in case the hawk were to get lost while flying.
They are a highly social bird and are frequently trained by falconers.
These hawks are working hawks who chase seagulls away from posh beachfront hotels in San Diego. Their presence alone is enough to scare the seagulls away.
We flew them, watched them search, and called them back to hand!
What a thrill! No wonder this has been the ancient art of kings and queens.
In fact, The earliest records of falconry date from Mesopotamia in 2ooo BC!
When I returned to The Holler from my time with the hawks, the red-tails flew closer than ever before, enabling me to get some good shots. Do you suppose they smelled the hawks on me? Who knows? All I know is that hawks are very clever birds and I love them!
Cheers to you from Hawk Holler!
