WRITING: Part 3 FLYING HAWKS and RESEARCH WORK

Hi Everyone

Blogspot.com and google have been having horrendous difficulties since Friday and I haven’t been able to post this. They then scrapped their ‘new’ software in lieu of the ‘old’ but even it does not work right. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to post this, and have it ‘disappear’ on me. So, I got smart and copied all of it to my Appleworks document software program.

Anyway...after three days of continued but no-go efforts, here it is! As you can tell, there’s stories here. Each bird manufactures their own unique story line. As a writer, I’m there to observe and remember it. Because, it will show up in a book, you can count on that. The ‘personality’ of each raptor is also something that I want to imprint upon myself. Readers love characters. But they fall in love with personalities in a book. My job this week of seeing Susan was trying to get her to tell me about the ‘personality’ of each of her birds. And she did a great job of imparting that information to me.

As you will see now, Bo is going to be let go in the oval at the Flagstaff Arboretum, to fly. Susan brings the birds who are ‘education’ permit birds, to give programs to the public to help build and raise their awareness of the need for our raptors out in the world. So, with out further adieu, here’s BO KNOWS and his escapades!



Susan works without a gauntlet--which I find amazing. Here, she is launching Bo without it.



Here's Bo, the male Harris Hawk zooming (quite literally) around the training oval where Susan will be presenting, with the help of her assistants, their raptor program starting in April when the Arboretum opens to the public. Bo, by the way, just loves to show off. He's a super showman--knows he's being watched, ahhhed and ooohhhed over!






And then he sez: to hell with it, leaps off the pine tree limb and goes like a bat out of hell--again...doncha love that 'look' on his face....all focus!







Here's Susan 'sending' Bo off her fist. You can see his nice white tail with black zoning as he takes off at a furious pace for the pine trees! Bo had "Pine Tree Karma".....you'll see what I mean here shortly....this is a hawk who jumps first and asks questions later...just like a male, you might say? Well, I'll let you be the judge....read on....



And off Bo goes after the launch, zooming around the area, hell bent for leather!




So, Bo Knows....he goes flapping into a pine tree....oooppps!! Overshooting again. SCREEECHHHHHH! put on the bird brakes! You can see him over shooting here and he's trying to stop from diving off the limb and going upside down....






So, Bo Knows....he goes flapping into a pine tree....oooppps!! Overshooting again. SCREEECHHHHHH! put on the bird brakes! You can see him over shooting here and he's trying to stop from diving off the limb and going upside down....




This is my favorite shot. It shows the Grandmothers, the mountain, Bo and part of a Pine Tree that he has karma with. The Grandmothers (as they are called by the Navajo and Hopi people who revere this mountain spirit) is known to white folks as Mt. Humphreys. I prefr the Grandmothers; there this such a strong maternal energy that exudes off this wonderful mountain that mantles over Flagstaff.



And here's Bo, on the "go" LOOK! He's spotted a PINE TREE! Bo is gonna pretend the pine tree is dinner!



And there goes BO....to attack the PINE TREE! Like the good hawk hunter he is, he's on the wing! He's at the speed of sound! He's......



ARGH!! ATTACKED! CRAP! Bo's flailing around and can't get a grip on a limb to save his life, so his wings are holding him in the pine needles. How did I get into this mess! Better question, Bo is; How are you gonna get OUT of it!




And Bo goes attacking the pine tree--but as you can see--it caught HIM, instead ! And he's floudering around like a fish out of water...glug, glug...... He's up there weaving right, weaving left, hanging by his claws, flapping his wings....he's bit off more than he can chew with this pine tree!



I think this expression is more of a: "Oh, poop! How did I get tangled into this darned tree?!" Bo is continuing to flail around because the pine tree can't support his weight, so he's flapping and flogging around like a top spinning out of control!



Eventually, Bo wobbles, wrangles, pushes and shoves his way toward the center of the pine tree. Small branches are snapping and popping as he powers through them bulkily from one leg to another. Then--finally-- he comes out of this end, and then as you can see,there's an awful tangle of dead pine tree limbs. Finally.....after monumental hawk struggles, Bo gets the heck out of the grip of this pine tree and ends his karma with it!



And here comes out triumphant hero, maybe a little bruised ego and wing battered, but whole nonetheless, from his fight with the Giant Pine Tree, and he lands on the fist of Susan's hand.



And here's Bo, tired but happy after his struggles with the giant pine tree, making another successful landing on Susan's fist. And so, Bo's antics and adventures and karma with the Pine Tree come to an end. He's a happy hawk; he got to fly around free for about thirty minutes.



And now, Spike, the Caracara from South America. Did you know this bird is a member of the falcon family? I have a hard time believing that. To me, Spike reminds me of a duded up banty rooster chicken! I call him "Super Chicken" and my initial judgment of him was to be proven out after Susan took him out of his travel box to be set free to 'do his thing.' So, you'll have to come back for part 4 to see what antics Spike got into!

In Spirit....Eileen