An encounter in Hoo Wood.
Sunrise: 07.44 Sunset: 06.03
I met a strangely dressed man in the wood this morning. “Have you seen a Harris Hawk about here?” he asked. “No!” I said. “If you give me your phone number, I will let you know if I see one.”
A few second after he had moved on, it dawned on me that I had seen the hawk yesterday, at the south end of the marsh, flying out of the wood next to the scrapyard. It was around twice the size of a buzzard. It swooped down from a tree and flew low and out of sight, around the far side of the wood, over the scrapyard. I remember wondering what it was, before being distracted by something else. I shouted after the falconer and told him what I had seen.
Later, walking back through the wood, I heard a tree branch fall and a large bird flying through the trees, towards the marsh. In the distance I could hear the falconer on the marsh, whistling for his hawk. Hopefully, they found each other.
Some people lose their dog, unusual to lose a hawk.
Yes, unusual to lose a hawk. Sounds almost medieval.
I think you should qualify “strangely dressed” my imagination is running riot!
Lovely photo and a great little story too 🙂