Subject: A Goshawk just misses a stellar breakfast
Date: Aug 26 11:37:02 2003
From: Rob Sandelin - floriferous at msn.com


Just returned from a several week trip to the Sierras. One morning while in
the Desolation Wilderness above Lake Tahoe I got up early and climbed the
granite to a perch a little bit above our camp. We were camped a little
brushy draw with a small creek and a single large Jeffery Pine was the only
tree. That morning a Stellars Jay was hopping about, doing that circular
climbing thing, where they hop from branch to branch around a tree, starting
low then going up. My attention was distracted by movement downstream and a
large dark flying shadow was cruising fast, just above the tops of the
brush. After a few seconds I recognized it as a Goshawk, and it was in full
attack mode, targeting the jay. The Hawk stayed low at brush level (maybe
3-4 feet off the ground) then just as it approached the tree the Jay became
aware of the threat and screamed and flew first up, the hawk now making a
steep, almost 90 degree upwards turn. The Jay sort of flipped over a branch
just as the hawk would have struck. It beat wings full tilt into the brush
below, crashed headfirst into the brush then crawled into the deepest cover
it could find. The Hawk never came back after the first attempt, and by the
time I saw it again, it was halfway down the hill dropping elevation again
to cruise at brush height. The whole drama lasted maybe 6 seconds.


Rob Sandelin
South Snohomish County at the headwaters of Ricci Creek
Sky Valley Environments <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous at msn.com


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