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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2021)
B Saturday, February 6, 2021 The Observer & Baker City Herald H ELLO , H AWKS ■ Close encounters of the raptor kind M uch of Eastern Oregon and Washington is raptor country — wide open surround where red-tailed hawks, northern harriers and American kestrels maintain vigil over cultivated fi elds and bunch- grass slopes. On any given day you might spot the soaring fl ight, graceful glide, distinctive hover, or dive bomb of these noble birds as they hunt small mammals and birds. More often than not, I pause to watch and wonder what it would be like to fl y. Some of my encounters with hawks have been personal. I once scooped up a kestrel that fell into the Columbia River after it locked talons with a competitor and lost an aerial battle. The small hawk shivered in my grip to shake water from its plumage and took wing, no worse for wear. A few years back, while casting for salmon on a rainy October af- ternoon, I heard a crash of wings in bulrushes that crowded the Yakima River shoreline and looked back to see a struggling northern harrier. Curiosity took me to its side. Had the bird been shot? Did it suffer from poison or some other malady? Ignoring all rules of what to do when you fi nd injured or sick wild- life, I corralled the soaking wet bird, covered its head with a loose cloth to calm, and took it home. It spent the night resting warm and dry on a bath towel in a large cardboard box. The following morning I took the hawk out of the box and placed it on the lawn for inspection. To my surprise (and elation), it spread its wings and fl ew off. I can’t say every attempt to save a baby barn swallow that got bumped out of a mud nest before it fl edged, or a robin that crashed into a picture window, turned out as well. What keeps my attention during the dreary, fog-shrouded days of winter is a pair of sharp-shinned hawks or “sharpies” that hunt THE NATURAL WORLD DENNIS DAUBLE near our suburban landscape. A shelterbelt of big sage, wild rose, and red bark dogwood provides a nighttime runway between a public golf course and our backyard for wandering skunk and porcu- pine. Two seed feeders, a pair of thistle socks, a suet feeder, a small fi shpond, and the decaying fruit of crabapple, cherry, and mulberry trees attract a multitude of small passerine and resident songbirds. Mourning and ringed-neck doves are attracted to birdseed that spills to the ground. Before a nearby housing development crowded our view of Rattlesnake Mountain, up to 80 California quail roosted in the spruce tree next to the driveway. Simply put, the setting is an “eat all you want” buffet for a stealthy predator hawk. Our sharpies plot their next move from the naked branches of a towering maple, gnarly-bark Italian plum, or thorny black locust tree. Sharpies have been described as “pursuit hunters.” They appear as a blur of motion when they burst from cover to snatch a small bird. Their hapless prey is carried to a nearby perch or the ground for consump- tion, leaving only a pile of feathers as evidence of the carnivorous act. Sharp-shinned hawks exhibit sexual dimorphism, a common trait for birds of prey. Females may be a third again larger (up to 15 inches body size) than males (10 to 11 inches). The disparity in size makes it diffi cult to tell the difference between a female Sharpie and the occasional Cooper’s hawk that also shows up in our backyard. Accord- ing to fi eld guides, sharp-shinned hawks have a squared off tail while the tail of the larger Cooper’s hawk is rounded. Sharpies also have a Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo Juvenile Cooper’s hawks (shown here) and sharp-shinned hawks are diffi cult to tell apart except by size. Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo A pile of feathers provides stark evidence of a quick backyard kill by a sharp-shinned hawk. smaller head. Good luck telling the difference though, when they fl y by at a top speed of 60 mph. The majority of plundering action takes place in a narrow corridor between the south side of our house and a trio of tall arborvitae. A window over the kitchen sink allows for fur- tive observation. Just the other day I looked out the window and won- dered, why no six-pack of goldfi nches hanging on the thistle sock? Why no squabble between juncos and white- crowned sparrows over sunfl ower seeds? That’s when Nancy exclaimed, “A sharpie is on your Adirondack chair.” I sprinted to the living room to get my camera, but when I got within shooting range a naive sparrow fl ushed from the twisted honeysuckle vine that hangs over our back patio. Dennis Dauble/Contributed Photo An adult sharp-shinned hawk takes a break in a plum tree that sup- ports two bird feeders. In the blink of an eye, the sharpie balance between predator and prey. took off and plucked it from the air. Dennis Dauble is a retired fi shery Given the large number of sparrows scientist, outdoor writer, presenter that hang around our back porch, it’s and educator who lives in Richland, unlikely the swift kill put a dent in Washington. For more stories about their population. What the encoun- fi sh and fi shing in area waters, see ter provided though, was a classic DennisDaubleBooks.com. example of how nature maintains a Winter fishing is a wholly different sort of experience OK, I’m not a hard- core, dyed-in-the-wool ice fi sherman. I’m a fair-weather ice fi sh- erman. Well, I guess there’s no such thing as a fair-weather fi sherman or you’d never go ice fi shing. It’s always cold or there’s no ice. Let me give you a couple of examples. I used to have a few ice- fi shing buddies who were a little warped. On the longest day of the year, they liked to go up to the mountains and ice fi sh all night. I just don’t know if that sounded like a good time. Well, anyway, they talked me into going with them on New Year’s Day. A vendor had given me a big party tray. I thought I’d take it for snacks. One of the buddies had an ice-fi shing hut that he was quite proud of. The rest of us were going to be sitting on fi ve-gallon buckets. As we were setting up, a big-time mountain wind gust unsafe. We had an eye for the obvious. BASE CAMP So now that I’ve painted TOM CLAYCOMB such a pleasant picture of ice fi shing, what gear will it hit. Buddy No. 1 was in his take for you to get into it? ice hut setting it up. When Really it is quite simple to the gust hit, he went skid- get into. To begin, you’ll need ding across the ice. He was an auger. You can buy a hand inside screaming for help. auger pretty cheap but if you We all ran over and grabbed really get into it you’ll want a corner of the hut and were a gas auger. To save someone able to slow it down. from stepping in a hole we In the meantime, all of are limited to holes no larger Tom Claycomb/Contributed Photo than 12 inches in diameter. our gear was blowing across Drilling a small hole next to the fi shing hole creates a the lake. Luckily there was For rods, tip-ups are the spot to place the butt of the fi shing rod. a barbed wire fence on the cheapest. Or they have other side of the lake which miniature little rods that are caught all of our gear. We We fi nally gathered all of there was about half an inch something like 2 feet long. got his hut staked down our gear and got set up. After of water on top of the ice. If It’s nice to have a V-shaped and then headed across the all of that excitement, I can’t a fi sh hit and all three of us stick to set them in so you lake, picking up gear. All the even remember how the fi sh- ran over to check the rod can see them tip over. Don’t way across there were little ing was. the ice would start dipping expect aggressive hits. If you red frozen marbles. Finally Another unique trip. It was down and consequently more get a little tap, start reeling. I fi gured out. It was frozen getting late in the season water would run out of the If you’re not looking, you’ll little tomatoes off of my tray. and warming up but a buddy hole so the water was now miss a hit. You wouldn’t believe how talked me into going ice fi sh- 2 inches deep. Only one of To fi nd the fi sh can be far the sausage slices had ing. We hit a small reservoir us at a time could go reel in tough. I hate to, but follow- pinwheeled across the lake. which had some awesome a fi sh. Although the fi shing ing the crowds can be smart. And slices of cheese ended up bluegill fi shing. The problem was good, after a while we Find out where the fi sh are in all kinds of random places. was, the snow had melted so fi gured it was getting semi in the water column. Usually drop down to the bottom and then reel up a couple of feet. Start fi shing at different depths until you locate them and then zero in. Most people use little ice-fi shing jigs tipped off with meal worms or worms. This winter I’m going to use some Pautzke Fire Gel which is a gel that has fi sh smell attractant. The longer I fi sh, the more stock I put in attractants. I’m also going to use some Pautzke Crappier Fireballs. One other thing you’ll need is an ice scoop to scoop ice crystals out of the hole after you drill it and to scoop out ice as it forms in the hole. Also, a big deal is a sled. I use the cheap little red kid’s sled. With a sled you can throw all of your gear into a few fi ve-gallon buckets and put in the sled. Tie a rope to the sled and then you can pull it across the lake. See Fishing/Page 2B
