Harassing Freedom

Not far from the Harry F. Byrd Visitor Center on the Skyline Drive, three crows squawk and carry on from three different perches in three different trees.

The subject of their attention seems to be hidden somewhere in the pine tree between them.

Movement stirs the branches of the pine as the male red-tailed hawk launches into the air.

His sudden appearance sends the crows scurrying from their perches. The black-feathered trio quickly regroups to give harassing chase, following the raptor into the forest.

As the hawk slips through the branches with relative ease, the tassel that identifies the bird as one that is (or was) held in captivity flutters from around his left talon.

He lands in a tree still bare of leaves, but his rest is short-lived. He takes to the air again as the trio closes the gap.

A minute later, we hear silence. The harassed predator seems to have eluded the trio.

The crows move around the woods, flying from tree to tree, continuing the search for what they see as a common threat.

Sunlight illuminates the red-tailed hawk as he hides among the dark network of branches in a spruce tree. The feathers of his head almost seem to glow.

The bird’s head turns from left to right. His eyes remain intent and focused.

After a few more minutes, the squawking returns when a crow eyes him.

Refusing to give up, the trio takes up positions in branches surrounding the spruce hideout.

“Hawks will go down and pickoff crows nests,” Dr. Dave McRuer, a veterinary resident with the Wildlife Center of Virginia, explains later. “One crow will not attack a hawk, but a group will come together to run one off.”

On the day it is harassed, this particular hawk escaped from the “Birds of Prey” show held at the Big Meadows Amphitheater on the Skyline Drive.

Originally, the raptor was treated by the Wildlife Center of Virginia after it was struck by a vehicle.

Following treatment, the red-tailed hawk was considered unreleasable because of more limited motion in its once fractured left wing as well as diminished eyesight.

Although flight continued to be possible, the normal aerobatics used while hunting were believed to no longer be possible.

When added with diminished eyesight that would make spotting prey harder, it was felt survival in the wild not possible.

As a result, a life of freedom was traded for life as an education animal. The great bird was loaned by the wildlife center to the Shenandoah National Park for the “Birds of Prey” program.

But even in captivity, the desire for freedom remains strong.

A week after his escape, he remains at large with one question being asked. … Can he continue to survive on his own?

--- Mike Tripp, photojournalist

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Originally published Saturday, May 19, 2007, at FourWindsLodge.net.