Of Red-Tailed Hawks and Eagles...

Via Mike the Mad Biologist (which if you do not check out at least a couple times a week, you should), a link to a video on the site 10000 Birds.

The site provides the following introduction:

Pro-tip: If you are a Red-tailed Hawk don’t attack a Bald Eagle on its nest. Such an idea when put into practice will not end well for you.

Don’t watch this video unless you want to see a Red-tailed Hawk getting dispatched by a very angry Bald Eagle.
 

The key action is immediately at the beginning and is all over but the shouting by 1 minute:

 


As a lover of birds and particularly of raptors, seeing these two duke it out is absolutely fascinating.

What was the red tail thinking?  If it were human, I'd recommend an nomination for a Darwin Award.

Good Day for a Run...Bad Day for a Hawk

Yesterday (Tues) I put one of my pet running theories to the test: namely, that I have some of my best runs ever when the weather is crappy.

Well, here in southern Penn's Woods, yesterday was the coldest day of the winter and probably the coldest day in 2 years.  Real air temp when I started the run was about 14F, warming to 18F at the end.  And the wind was howling out of the west at 15-20 steady, with higher gusts.

As I typically do for windy winter runs, I headed west into the wind to get that nasty part over first.  The run was a big rectangle of some 16 miles, so the first quarter was tough, but then the wind was either quartering or from behind.

I was dressed in my maximum wind chill outfit and actually was quite comfortable.  Running directly into the wind was unpleasant but doable, and it didn't last forever.  And I felt smooth and strong and happy, like I could run forever.  And I loved all the puzzled looks I got from drivers passing me!

There was one major downer early in the run--I found a dead hawk in a box beside the road.  It obviously had been tossed out of a vehicle, and the hawk spilled out of the open box.  To me it appeared the tail feathers had been removed, so I couldn't confirm my supposition that it was a red-tailed hawk.  Plus it was frozen and contorted, making ID difficult.  Nor could I note an obvious cause of death, for that matter--it may have been shot, or perhaps struck by a car and collected for its feathers. 

I'll leave that part to the authorities: when I got home I drove out to bring the bird and the box home and called the Dept of Natural Resources to report it, but the game warden has not yet contacted me.

The hawk was magnificent, even in death:

As found

The claws

The beak

Such a sad thing.  I also was amazed as just how light the hawk's body was--maybe a couple pounds at most.

So, back to the overall theme here.  Bottom line is not to hibernate when the weather, by any objective standard, sucks.  Get out there and run--you will be happy you did.

 

Appalachian Trail Run: Cumberland Valley Crossing

Yesterday I went for a 16 miler on the Appalachian Trail with a  couple buddies.  We did the crossing of the wide Cumberland Valley in central PA, north-to-south.  Used to be that this section was totally on roads and was notoriously the pits, but in 1992 a relocation was completed that utilized woodlots, fencerows, etc. to make for a beautiful, almost secluded wooded trail corridor.

The day was beautiful, mild, and we saw lots of deer.  Plus a small flock of bluebirds along one of the ubiquitous fencerows.  The trail corridor is interesting in that as you pass north to south, you first come down off North Mountain to reach the valley proper.  Then in rapid succession you cross PA Rt 944 in a pedestrian tunnel under the road; cross I-81 on the highway bridge that carries Bernheisel Road over the interstate highway; cross U.S. Rt 11, the former main north-south corridor prior to I-81, on a pedestrian bridge; cross the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks at grade level; and cross the historic Pennsylvania Turnpike on the highway bridge that carries Appalachian Drive over the turnpike.

Admittedly I am a transportation geek, but objectively speaking, all of these crossings are just plain interesting, as they involve historical routes from the past and present.

Last item of note, I am normally rather sure footed, rarely falling, but near the end I took a hard fall.  Rather than try to catch my fall with my arms I just turned the fall into a buffalo roll where the brunt of the impact was absorbed across my chest, shoulder, and back as I rolled.  Thankfully I impacted nothing hard—like rocks—and am only minimally sore today.  But it could have been disaster.

All in all, a great run.  Nothing really exceptional about it, but that’s part of the beauty, I guess.  Runs don’t have to be spectacular, they can be just as gratifying when they are plain ordinary.  See, an ordinary run trumps a sedentary period of equal duration anytime.

 

 

After the run, when the car shuttling was over, I visited the Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch (also image credit for above shot) location where PA Rt 74 crosses North Mountain west of Carlisle, PA.  I have always wanted to scope out a migratory raptor viewing site, so this was my day.  The birds were sorta quiet this day—the recorder told me that they had had just 18 birds over about 4 hours that morning…but in rapid succession soon after my arrival 4 red-tailed hawks and a bald eagle cruised by on their way south!  So perhaps I brought good luck.

 

 

REPOST: Looking Down on a Red Tailed Hawk

While I am down after arm surgery and can't type, I am recycling some posts from a year ago.

This from 25 May 2010, here (you'll need to click back to see any images, I could not easily or quickly insert them in this re-post):

(Photo by Gary)

Last summer, the bride and I celebrated our 36th anniversary. We picked well and have been lucky, and have thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We hope to be fortunate enough and healthy enough to continue to enjoy each other's company until we depart this earth.

To commemorate that anniversary, as a surprise I booked a hot air balloon ride with Windjammer Balloons out of York, PA. The ride originally was booked for our anniversary weekend, but the weather did not cooperate (rain and wind are the nemeses of ballooning and do necessitate rescheduling, perhaps as much as half the time). Trying to reschedule with the other couple was tough, so we ultimately punted until this spring when the ride went off as scheduled without a hitch.

As a nature lover and ultrarunner, I am pretty familiar with the critters that roam in our neck of the woods here in southern Pennsylvania. I have been blessed to have had many encounters with them, on foot, in their own territory where I was the intruder and always strive mightily NOT to be an unwelcome guest. So one of the things that pleasantly surprised me about the balloon ride was seeing critters. As we flew over farm fields and woods we saw numerous white-tailed deer. Also we saw two separate foxes, one that appeared from its color to be a red fox, and the other a gray fox.

But the crème de la crème for me was to be looking DOWN on a red-tailed hawk in flight. I have always admired this magnificent bird, but have only ever seen it from below. I am pleased that they are again doing well. Their population was in severe decline due to ill-informed people shooting them on sight so as to increase the population of game animals, and the effects of DDT.

When I and my running buddies take our noontime run around the perimeter of the Navy base where we work, we often see a resident Red-tail, who is familiar enough with people that he/she often does not fly from its street light perch as we run beneath it. And when it does fly, seeing those magnificent red tail feathers spread to catch the wind brings a thrill to my spine.

Back to Windjammer--their price per person for a 1-hour flight is $195 (I have no financial interest in this). The pilot was friendly, professional, and inspired confidence. I should mention that one of our flying companions is a licensed private small-plane pilot and is strictly by-the-book when it comes to safety--he was impressed with the attention to equipment and procedural safety. The ground crew in the chase vehicle kept in constant radio and visual communication with the balloon, and was there to meet us as we gently touched down in an large backyard.

Then after the balloon was stowed and we had been transported back to the launch site, we toasted the experience with champagne. What a memorable day--highly recommended!

The Balloonists' Prayer


The Winds have Welcomed you with softness.
The Sun has blessed you with its warm hands.
You have flown so high and so well,
that God has joined you in your laughter.
And He has set you gently back again
into the loving arms of Mother Earth.