Hawk For A Harris Tweedy Sort Of Day

Jazzy dog and I had a lovely early morning walk in bright sunshine. The ducks were ice-waddling on the lake and tweety birds were making themselves heard. Just the sort of cold frosty morning my mother had in mind when she bought me a very scratchy Harris Tweed overcoat with leather buttons to wear to Sunday school. :)   

Just as I had got the lunchtime soup on MrQ called me into the garden. "Bring your camera, there's something wrong with this seagull." A lone gull was circling the ash tree repeatedly, calling stridently. Not the long seaside squawk but a short sharp alarm call. I spent a while taking pics of distressed Jonathan wheeling against the beautifully blue sky. Then I spotted a dark shape near the top of the ash tree. It was a bird of prey which I immediately knew wasn't an indigenous species. I was even more convinced of that fact when I started taking pics of it. It just stared down at Jazzy me jumping around. I went indoors and got one of the heavy leather gauntlets that came with our log-burner and some ham hoping to entice it out of the tree. All it did was stare.

I believe it is a Harris Hawk, native of southwestern United States and South America and often used in falconry. I've Tweeted about it and contacted a local falconer. I was eating my soup when it finally took to the wing. I could hear a pair of gulls calling and could see them circling over the farm next door. I hope it is reunited with its owner.