The 24th of June was soon to be 'yesterday' when I got my first glimpse of Rundu. He peered with slaty-blue eyes out of the hamper which had been his home since falling from his city park nest. He, being the only tiercel (male) of the cutch, and the smallest, had fared worst, being pushed out before he could fly. He was on the verge of being a 'brancher' in falconry jargon. The park authorities were unable to return him to the nest. There being a high risk of his demise in the jaws of one of the many dogs that run in the park, he ended up in the hamper. After consulations with local expert and falconry 'Guru', Steve Layman, my name came up as someone seeking to fly a Coopers Hawk. The the transfer was cleared with the wildlife authorities and I found myself peering into the hamper and the baleful slaty-blue eyes.

According to the accumulated wisdom of falconers this was the worst stage to 'take' a juvenile Coopers Hawk. He was neither 'imprinted' on humans, nor adept at catching quarry, as with a passage bird.

Coopers Hawks are notoriously hyperactive, aggressive and difficult to man. In short probably one of the most difficult birds used in Falconry. I wanted this bird to be completely comfortable around me. Thus I decided to use the strategy of maximum socialization from the start. I placed a 2nd table next to my 2nd work desk and covered it with a large sheet of astroturf. This is where Rundu would spend most of his days and nights for the rest of the summer.

Rundu even made his first "kills" here before his feathers were hard penned. Even at this age it was amazing to see how excited he would get at the pospect of 'killing' something. A harbinger of the future aggression that these little hawks are capable.

How many people in the world can say that they spend most of their working day sharing their desk with a Coopers Hawk?

By mid July Rundu was hard-penned and flying regularly to the lure.

At this stage Rundu was spending some time outside in the mews weathering area to get accustomed to road noise and people traffic.

Rundu was now showing signs of aggression towards me when he was in 'Yarak'. He was ready to go out and hunt. Here he does his characteristic 'crouch' just prior to launching himself at me, or rather at my face.

Soon he was riding in the 'giant hood' as I headed out to the hunting grounds. The first few times I headed up to Whatcom county on the Canadian border and Dan Pike's place. Dan and his wealth of experience showed me the ropes of introducing a Coopers Hawk to prey. Being a successful falconer is not just about training a bird! As important is all that enables the hawking. One of the skills is introducing ones self to land owners and making a sufficiently good impression to get them to allow one to hunt on their property. It is a wonderful way of meeting a great section of society. I got to know many of the farmers of my local area Skagit and Stillaguamish valleys.

I stopped in to say howdy to 80 year old Alf Danielson. Alf was born in the farm house, next to the dairy complex, in which he now lives. His business card says 'Too lazy to work, too healthy to beg, to honest to steal' I then proceeded to the other side of the dairy buildings. I spotted some sparrows bouncing in and out of the brambles and thistles. Leaving the truck I approached on foot. Rundu suddenly launched off my fist and headed towards an embankment. As he passed an old harvester a sparrow came around going the wrong way. It was all over in a flash! I approached slowly to where he was in the long grass. After he had broken into the sparrow I transfered him off to some tirings and headed back to the truck.

On the fist I gave him back his sparrow and let him crop up.

Falconry is a lifestyle and not a hobby. It entails a major commitment. Where I go the hawk goes! Here I am feeding at a rest area in Montana on the way to a big art show on the other side of the rockies.

Or sharing a hotel room!....to the consternation of a gaggle of geese! I am sure the geese have seen some sights on the bed below.. but this certainly must be up there with some of the strangest!

The joy of flying a Coopers hawk is being able to take a short midday break on a bright sunny early August day, walk 200 yards down the road, then nail a sparrow as they scuttle from black berry patch to black berry patch.

So, back from the road trip, Rundu was soon, once again, the nemesis of the local English House Sparrow and Starling population. There is no closed hunting season on these non-native birds. Little is better than this sort of summer hunting while one waits for fall to arrive, and the opening of the regular hunting season!

The last thing this sparrow saw..

and this one.......

and this one.......

Back in the office and well cropped up with starling......