Full Circle

 

In 2015 I coordinated a trip to just West of Corpus Christi with the purpose of trapping a Texas Harris Hawk. The quest was successful, and Wyvern entered my life. She has been a good game hawk, and we have slayed many Minnesota bunnies, and a few squirrels, although I stopped focusing on the tree rats with her after she lost a toe to an injury from one of her encounters. 

Wyvern has always been a bit aloof. She really does not like to be handled on the fist. I got her comfortable with a T-perch, but over the last 6 seasons her stand-offishness has only become worse. I'm sure the fault lay with me. If I cranked down her weight I would probably have gotten better field control. The last couple seasons have been a bit stressful after each hunt, wondering if she would come back to the car, the lure, to me, to whatever had been caught. In her own way, she was communicating that she really was just DONE with this whole falconry thing. Returning her home became a realization, a goal of something that I should do for her. However, returning her to where her species is native is far more of an undertaking than just releasing a red tail. I can't just toss her out the front door with a map, and tell her to fly South. I would have to take her home.

Over the last few years I have become increasingly fond of the Corpus Christi area. I don't know if my life's path will ever make it possible for me to live there, but I am pulled to vacation there frequently.  This last October  Rich and I had a wonderful little stay. It was filled with all the kinds of activities that I so very much enjoy on an adventure: beach, bird watching, food. On our journey while out looking for migrating hawks, we found the Hazel Bazemore County Park. It spoke to me! I had found the home that Wyvern should be returned to. All the requirements to get her there would entail a big dump of money. It was the least I could do in thanks for the years I have enjoyed her as a falconry bird. It was now time to let her have her own wild life back.

I contacted all the necessary authorities to ensure her release would be legal. Texas did not care that I brought her and released her, as long as she was healthy. Minnesota didn't care as long as what I was doing was OK with Texas. She had a final visit with the Raptor Center to secure a health certificate needed to travel across state lines, and to ensure she was healthy per Texas' requirements. She was! She has started her molt, so looks just a little rough, but otherwise is way over hunting weight. I ensured in the months up to this release date that she had reserves of body fat to sustain her as she regains her wild life.   

As when she was trapped, it was a road trip, because transporting a bird through the airlines is just more trouble than I want to navigate. I rented a car, not wanting to put all these miles on my own, now just paid off vehicle. Rich was the primary driver. We hit the road a couple hours after I got off from working. I snoozed through the drive across Wisconsin and into Illinois. We dropped Gryphon off for a week stay at Darla's DD Birdranch. It was then a quick one-hour drive to stop by my niece's home in Bloomington to deliver some auction treasures Rich has scored recently, then back on the road, with a goal to arrive at my sister Jennefer's new home in Missouri. We would roll in around 3 am.

The bed she made for us was super comfortable. We caught up over coffee and then breakfast the next morning before getting back on the road. This second day of driving would also see us arriving at our destination very late. I had coordinated a series of AirBNB reservations. The first night just outside of where Wyvern would be released was absolutely the best. It is a nice Texas ranch. We arrived at 4 am, and mostly slept the remainder of our hours booked there.  I really will keep this in mind for any future visits. It offered some nice last day pictures with Wyvern.

The morning of Wyvern's freedom dawned quite stormy. I had planned to pick up a picnic brunch at a Mexican restaurant just outside the entrance to the park. While waiting for our order to be made it started to downpour outside. Our picnic brunch became a sit down brunch. By the time we were done eating it had mostly stopped, but I still got rather wet in all the puddles on the way back to the car.  At the park we waited, and within a half hour, the clouds parted, and a beautiful Texas day ensued. We took the paved drive around the park, but settled with the observation deck, used as a Hawk Watch site. There were no other people in attendance, so it was the perfect location.

Rich recorded the event with the GoPro, as well as took pictures with his camera. I started to remove her equipment, beginning with her Federal marker, while she sat of my fist, but cast her in my hand for removal of anklets, jesses and hood, as I did not want to risk her bating away before being fully freed of her equipment. At this point, this girl would not come to me for food or loyalty. I had not handled her much in the previous two months, and she was already returned to her wild nature, just waiting to be returned to her wild location. Upon being freed, she flitted over to the railing, and then spent several minutes just looking around. Her vista was stunning. So was she! A little bedraggled from being in molt, but still a very pretty girl. Now she was a free girl, her own mistress.

Almost immediately, a pair of mockingbirds took notice and had issue with the arrival of this hawk. They probably had a nest nearby.  They would continue to harass her as she moved from deck rail, to deck awning, to tree behind the deck, to tree in the golf course behind, then sky beyond.

Our final site of her was as she winged above the golf course, catching a thermal, with mockingbird in tow.

Be Free Beautiful Girl!  Thank You for all the fun hunts, and sharing your first years with me, albeit perhaps not by your willing participation. Reclaim now your wild life. Prosper under the Texas sunshine. Go find a place to call your own.

Our task in Texas complete, Rich and I moved on down the road to enjoy our road trip.  He had spotted a sign and wanted to pose for a picture on the Texas "Highway to Hell".  All his friends on Facebook joined in his sense of humor.

Because we were in the area, I wanted to see the beach, but also because I had already shown Rich North Padre Island on previous visits, we took the two hours and drove down to South Padre Island.  We won't do that again.  I had grown up with relatives in the far South Texas area. Going to the beach in South Padre Island was something very much looked forward to as a child. I found it to be very commercial and crowded. I have come to enjoy better the undeveloped North Padre Island, and any future visits will be there. We only stayed on the beach for an hour before leaving. I even opted to skip the fish meal I had hoped to score while on the island. Nothing looked authentic enough, so we picked something to eat closer to our AirBNB.

The next morning, being in South Texas, I wanted to try to see a Green Jay. They are like Blue Jays, only tropical, and can only be seen in South Texas.  A search of the Internet found the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge right on the border. The Internet listing describes it as: "Strategically located where subtropical climate, gulf coast, great plains and Chihuahuan desert meet. Here, next to the Rio Grande, you will find Sabal palms growing alongside prickly pear cactus." At this particular location the border would only be crossed by traversing a tangle of marshy swamps. We walked a couple trails, but would not go swimming or mud mucking, as there were many of those puddles to avoid. We heard many birds, many that I do not know the call for. It was not until we worked our way back to the refuge headquarters that we met up with some people sitting next to a feeding station. Here we would volunteer some oranges we had in our car, and wait about an hour until the star species would show up. We did get a very good look at them, just not fantastic pictures. Still, Rich did catch one to prove we saw them.

We also saw several Great Kiskadees.

I think this is a flycatcher of some kind, or kingbird, but I simply cannot identify with certainty. Perhaps a female hooded oriole. We saw other male orioles in the area. It almost glowed orange in the sunlight. In fact, doing a bit more searching to make this posting, now I am leaning pretty heavily on it being that female hooded oriole. The range is right. The size is right. 

A Plain Chachalaca crossed our path while we were walking the trails. 

At our AirBNB there in South Texas Rich caught a stationary picture of a Mockingbird. They really are nice birds, if not annoying to their neighbors. At one of the rest stops on our journey, late at night, I heard one singing, which they will do during nesting season, ALL NIGHT LONG.

We finished up our South Texas trip by grabbing some fresh tamales from an authentic tamale store for our lunch and taking some frozen ones home. I wanted to get out of the area as soon as possible, a mile from the border, in my rental car, as a preponderance of the billboards were advertising lawyer sharks looking for business from car accidents.

Our destination after South Texas was a final AirBNB at a little town just outside of Killeen/Belton, Texas, where I was born, a loooooong time ago. The following morning was my birthday, and I thought it humorous to go and take my picture at the courthouse to Bell County. Somewhere in the basement of this building my birth certificate may be located.  

It was a quick trip, but I am happy that I made and executed this decision on behalf of my bird. We take responsibility for them when we trap them from the wild, to care for them, to provide them with a good life, an interesting life filled with hunting. But sometimes the day comes to return them to Nature.  

She is in Mother Nature's hands now!