A Hawk in the Hand is Worth...

Early December of last year, I had run through a parking lot next to a lake, just to see what was moving. I had just spotted an Osprey in that same place a week before, migrating through. You never know.

Cold and breezy, not much was happening over the lake, so I moved north and noticed some people walking through the fields adjacent to the lake. A group, walking as if it were a bird hunt, but as I zoomed in with the camera it was the opposite. It was a group of falconers, and their birds were doing the hunting, and black-tailed jack rabbits were scrambling!

Falconer/falcon relationship

I eased into a position to shoot a few shots of their work, both falconers and birds. Two hawks chased a jack rabbit right by the truck and into the brush…rabbit survived that one. The group gathered at my truck and I got to meet some sharp people. I learned about falconry, and I took a few portrait shots of one of their birds…a Harris hawk. Brian Wood, in the group, is a Director of the Tucson AZ chapter of the North America Falconers Association (NAFA), and has helped me identify hawks several times.

These birds have hunting in their DNA, and their handlers make their hunts more successful…what Brian says is the core of the falcon/falconer relationship. Amazing to have these moments and shots in the LBK.

LP7

On Christmas Day, Kathy and I were headed north for family gathering, but stopped by a local lake to see if anything was waiting to be photographed. As we pulled in to the parking lot, this hawk was in a small tree staring at us. I was able to get a window down and in position as the hawk left its initial perch and began to fly to another perch nearer to us. That landing is this shot.

That evening, I tried to identify this hawk, to no avail. I punted and sent a shot to a falconer friend, Brian Wood in Tucson, AZ. He put me onto learning all about Harlan’s hawks. One thing was true; Harlan’s hawks are skittish sorts as a rule, so close shots were rare.

Through the winter, I continued to run into this specific hawk. Never saw a mate, but this bird had foraging patterns that helped me get to know it. Kathy and I met a birder and her husband in the field, and she had seen the Harlan’s as well. Looking closer at some of the photos, this birder noticed a nick in one of its primary feathers. We also noticed one of its tail feathers missing. Both markers gave us the tell to know when we were dealing with the same bird.

I named this bird LP7 as the winter developed, due to the notch in its left seventh primary feather. He stuck around into early April. LP7 gave me a chance to admire and be thankful for relationship with a wild world whose range from Canada to West Texas crossed my path…and now yours.

LP7

Harlan’s hawk doing winter in Lubbock, TX

Evening Hunt

My hunt was for photography subjects. Little did I know that I’d be peeking into another evening hunt, and that we were connected in a very similar plane.

We parked the truck in a familiar spot where we often get to view a variety of wild animals living out the golden hour. We see quail tiptoe out of the cover and feed alongside jackrabbits and prairie dogs. We spot hawks cruising above the straw, sometimes diving in after mice and sometimes muscling each other out of prime hunting grounds. We watch the burrowers, owls and prairie dogs, busy in preparations or just standing guard.

The coyote created tension in the evening script as he surfaced from the straw.

But this evening we were on the front row of drama as the coyote worked his way through the CRP straw following his nose…and his stomach. I’ve seen coyote prowls that paid off and others that came up empty. This male was on the scent within prairie dog space. As he eased his way out of cover, the rabbits scrambled, the quail were treed (literally), and hawks came off their perches.

He slipped through the old fence into the open prairie dog field, sniffed out a few burrows, and settled into one spot…one hidden treasure that must have been worth it. This hungry dog began to dig with all fours into a burrow, dirt and clods flying out behind him. Then he’d stop…listen…smell…and dig some more. His routine went on through several cycles, as the coyote sank lower and lower into the dirt. One last digging frenzy, and a high tail and flying debris were all we could see…a pause, desperate inspections…then he popped out of the hole with head and tail down, ambling now at a slower pace than when he arrived.

The hunt came up empty, matching his stomach. He slipped out of the prairie dog pasture and into the straw, an empty pace, ears low, and occasional sniffs. We could tell that this hunt was transitioning toward the next hunt…in the dark. And we were blessed to observe, record, and feel his empty hunt, while ours was 100% successful.

My photographic opportunities come up empty far more than I remember, but the occasions where the wild gets lived out in the lens are worth the empty hunts. Many exceptional photographic moments happen in the drive-by rather than in the sit-and-wait settings. The key is to be always looking, to get out there, and to be camera ready.

Happy hunting!

Craig