SIERRA, THE RED TAIL HAWK
Hi, this is June. I was driving down Sierra Highway
and, from the corner of my eye, I saw a flutter of wings disappearing
in the bushes by the side of the road. My instincts
told me to stop and investigate. Or perhaps it was an ancient spiritual
bond
that compelled me to pull over and see
what I could see. Under a bush, sitting very still was a red tail hawk.
A passing truck startled the bird. It hopped out of the bushes and started
it's way up the mountain and away from the Highway. It made it's way hopping
and with very short flights. One of his wings looked like it might be broken
as he was dragging it by it's side..
The only thing to do was to go home and come
back with work gloves and a cage. After searching the brush we finally
located the bird and were able to catch it and stow it safely in the cage.
We kept it overnight and the next morning we brought it to Mike Sharp,
the head ranger at Vasquez
Rocks County Park.
We know Mike for many years. Just this past April we all went to the Cabesa
Prietta Wideness in Arizona, the deadliest desert in the world, to search
for the legendary Lost Gold Of El Jaboniero, the soap maker. Mike,
Dave and the other rangers attended to the hawk and nursed it back to health.
It was a young female red tail hawk and the broken wing was healing nicely.
Several weeks went by and we got a call from
Mike, who informed us that Sierra was healed and ready to be set free.
We didn't want to miss such a glorious event and went to Vasquez Rocks
to witness the release. Sierra, perched on Mike's arm knew that something
special was about to happen; she was alert and ready. Mike placed a small
hood on her head and we all headed out to the
Vasquez Rocks. The hood was removed and Sierra, feeling the sun stroking
her feathers and hearing the wind blowing among the ancient and awesome
rocks, spread her mighty wings and took off to the sky....
Aho Sierra, ancient spirit
- fly high, live free, be proud.
