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CapitalPress.com
March 9, 2018
People & Places
Birds of prey soar over vineyards
John Hawley, a
winery owner,
follows his interest
in falconry
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By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
SONOMA COUNTY, Ca-
lif. — John Hawley’s interest
in falconry hatched when he
was a teenager.
“When I was 15 a neighbor
caught a hawk in his coop,” he
said. Hawley and a couple of
his friends went in together
and bought the bird. It was
1964, and there were no laws
against keeping birds of prey,
he said.
“The following year I sent
$15 to the California Depart-
ment of Fish and Game and
they sent me my first falconry
license,” he said.
“We took a young red-
tail hawk from a nest for my
friend Nick and my friend
Paul took a nestling barn owl,
which lived in his laundry
closet. And then we all got
kestrels, (tiny falcons), which
we all trained to hunt,” he
said.
They eventually went to
college and the birds were re-
leased back into the wild.
Fast-forward 15 years. By
1981 he had become the wine-
maker for Clos du Bois, and
for Kendall-Jackson in 1990.
In 1996 he started his own
winery.
“In 1997, I contacted Cal-
ifornia Fish and Game about
renewing my falconry li-
cense,” he said. The laws had
changed a lot. He had to take a
100-question test about birds
of prey, their diseases and fal-
conry laws.
“I joined the California
Hawking Club and found a
local falconer to apprentice,”
he said. He built a new mew,
a special room with smooth
Capital Press
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Courtesy of John Hawley
John Hawley, founder of Hawley Wines in Dry Creek Valley, Calif., and a licensed falconer, shows his
Peregrine falcon.
Courtesy of John Hawley
John Hawley with his Peregrine falcon.
walls, floor and ceiling, bars
for windows, perches and an
anteroom to prevent escapes.
Hawley also purchased a
transmitter and radio receiver
to track the bird.
This was a revolutionary
idea. Previously, the only way
to track a bird was to follow it
with binoculars or to fit it with
bells.
“I built a special trap,
bought a hamster as bait and
headed out to find a bird,” he
said. “After a couple hours
of driving I finally located a
large immature red-tail. We
watched the hawk hunt for
field mice. Then I put out my
trap and moments later I had
my new falconry bird.”
But that was just the begin-
ning.
“Everything about falcon-
ry is long, slow and tedious,”
he said. “You spend days on
end ‘manning’ the bird so it
totally loses all fear of you.
You train the bird to fly to you
for food. First just a jump, but
soon the bird is flying 100
yards to you.”
All training is based on
positive reinforcement, he
said.
“The next step is enter-
ing on game, and this is the
tricky part because the hawk
must be successful or he will
lose confidence and refuse to
hunt,” he said. “Most birds can
be trained to free fly in about a
month.”
Hawley said he sometimes
hunts in vineyards, but doesn’t
use his bird of prey for the
abatement of birds that feed on
grapes. Often, just the appear-
ance of his bird is enough to
cause other birds to leave.
Vineyard managers often
hire abatement hawks and fal-
cons, which are not trained to
kill birds and animals, but to
get rewards for just chasing
them. He practices falconry,
which is hunting with birds of
prey.
Hawks are distantly re-
lated to falcons, which have
long, pointed wings and are
more social than most hawks.
Hawks have fan-like wings
with finger-like projections.
“I love the flight of fal-
cons,” Hawley said. “We fal-
coners like for our birds to
take a position 1,000 to 2,000
feet above our heads. Then we
flush the game and the falcon
closes its wings into a tear
drop shape and comes down
John Hawley
Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager
Hometown: Dry Creek
Valley, outside Healdsburg,
Calif.
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
Occupation: Owner, Hawley
Wines, falconer
Entire contents copyright © 2018
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
Quote: “This (training) is all
about trust, so you must al-
ways treat falconry birds with
great respect and care.”
An independent newspaper
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out of the sky like a missile,
hopefully striking the quarry
at high speed. Generally the
quarry is dead when it hits the
ground. Hawks, on the other
hand, squeeze their prey to
death.”
There are about 200 fal-
coners in California, he said.
“Owls are good for noc-
turnal pests, but they don’t
do anything about birds in the
vineyard. A single peregrine
falcon can protect 500 acres
by just overflying it. Typically
an abatement person has sev-
eral falcons as well as a Harris
hawk or two. That way they
can keep a raptor in the air all
morning and all afternoon.”
It is a lot of work and can
be frustrating to the falconer
when things don’t go well,
like when a bird decides to
fly over to the next county, he
said.
“It’s a real three-ring cir-
cus,” he said. “The abatement
work day starts before sunrise.
You need to have a bird in the
air as the sun comes up be-
cause that is when bird flocks
send out their scouts, looking
for a safe place to feed.”
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To Place Classified Ads
‘Thank a farmer’ show part education, part magic
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore
— “What do an egg, a baseball
and a tube of lipstick have in
common?”
That was the question
Rhonda Swanson asked an
audience of grade-school kids
and adults during her “Thank
a Farmer” magic show on Feb.
21 at the 33rd annual Farm
Expo.
Before juggling the three
products, Swanson told the
listeners all three items came
from agriculture.
The kids knew, of course,
that the egg came from a
chicken, but Swanson then ex-
plained to them that the white
covering on the major league
baseball she was holding came
from cowhide and that the lip-
stick consisted of beeswax and
olive oil and numerous other
animal and plant ingredients.
Swanson gave two 30-min-
ute presentations at the Farm
Expo and gave shorter pre-
sentations at the dairy booth
as fourth-grade students circu-
lated through 18 agricultural-
themed booths at the event.
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Rhonda Swanson holds a major league baseball and explains to
the audience of kids and adults at the Farm Expo in Klamath Falls,
Ore., that the covering is cowhide. She says kids need to learn at
an early age to respect farmers and their work.
The two-day expo attracted
about 850 students from Klam-
ath, Lake and Modoc counties.
Swanson, 51, came up with
the “Thank a Farmer” pro-
gram about 10 years ago, after
talking to a Wisconsin dairy
farm family and hearing the
children talk about being bul-
lied at school because of their
lifestyle.
“When city kids move to
the rural areas, they don’t un-
derstand the lifestyle of those
already living there,” said
Swanson, whose family has
farmed in Iowa for six gener-
ations. “I took a look at what
was out there for kids to learn
about the importance of farm-
ing and I didn’t see much, if
any, outreach to the consum-
ers.
“I asked, ‘How can we get
the importance of farmers to
our communities?’” she said.
“The best way was through the
kids.”
Swanson said at that time
animal activists and their or-
ganizations and the anti-ge-
netically modified organisms
groups were being vocal in
public about their beliefs. She
said there was no program to
educate the public about agri-
culture.
So Swanson, who was al-
ready in the entertainment busi-
ness with her mother, Joyce, as
the Wacky Women of the Wild
West, developed the “Thank a
Farmer” magic show. She fig-
ured that children are attracted
to magic and including two or
three tricks would help keep
their attention as she talked
about agriculture.
She also noted that one of
the first things taught to chil-
dren is to say “Thank you” af-
ter being given something.
Swanson said she believes
kids today begin to devel-
op prejudices in elementary
school so she thinks it is im-
portant to get the message out
about respecting agriculture to
those youngsters.
“The idea behind ‘Thank
a Farmer’ is to raise their re-
alization through thanking a
farmer, that something is be-
ing done for them,” explained
Swanson, who is now a Las
Vegas-area resident.
Swanson recently spent 24
days at the Fort Worth, Texas,
Livestock Show and Rodeo,
giving her presentation to a
total of 20,000 pre-school to
fourth-grade kids.
“I know how hard farming
is from my own family’s back-
ground,” she said. “To have
people outside of the industry
criticize it and to criticize the
people who are farming makes
me mad. I know it is their own
ignorance because they are so
far removed from the process.
I created something that would
educate them, starting at a
young age.
“The people in agriculture
are a special people,” she con-
tinued. “They are willing to
take those risks when other
people aren’t, they are will-
ing to put in long days when
other people aren’t, they miss
vacations when other people
don’t, they miss special occa-
sions when other people don’t.
Farmers are a committed group
who are deserving of a ‘thank
you’ every now and then.
“As more kids live in cit-
ies and towns, they don’t have
contact with a farmer,” she
added. “The goal of this magic
show is to educate and to ex-
plain to kids why they should
thank a farmer.”
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mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press,
1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR
97301 or emailed to newsroom@
capitalpress.com. Write “Calendar”
in the subject line.
Saturday, March 10
GOP Gubernatorial Forum.
2:30-4 p.m. University of Idaho,
Administration Auditorium, 841
Campus Drive, Moscow, Idaho.
The University of Idaho Food and
Agricultural Business Club presents
the GOP Gubernatorial Forum. The
community is invited to hear from
GOP candidates about issues that
affect agriculture in Idaho. Candi-
dates Tommy Ahlquist and Lt. Gov.
Brad Little will answer questions
during the forum regarding agricul-
ture in Idaho.
Farm and Ranch Succession
Planning Workshop. 10 a.m.-2
p.m. Klamath Community College,
Building 6, Room H138, 7390 S.
Sixth St., Klamath Falls, Ore. To
help growers take the next step in
succession planning, OSU Exten-
sion, Klamath Community College,
Klamath Small Business Develop-
ment Center, Klamath Watershed
Partnership and Rogue Farm Corps
are coordinating a farm succession
workshop. Presenters will include
Diana Tourney of the Oregon Small
Business Development Center Net-
work on how to create a plan with
your family, attorney Joe Hobson of
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt on
how to prepare your estate, local
farmers who have been through
the process, and Nellie McAdams,
Farm Preservation Program Di-
rector at Rogue Farm Corps. The
event is free and lunch is included.
RSVP to help make sure we pro-
vide enough food. Cost: Free. Con-
tact: nellie@roguefarmcorps.org or
971-409-6806 Website: http://bit.
ly/2EvUzpB
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
Monday, March 12
Farm Land Access and Succes-
sion Planning Workshop. 2:30-8:30
p.m. Pine Grove Grange, 2835 Van
Horn Drive, Hood River, Ore. Rogue
Farm Corps, Gorge Grown, OSU
Extension, Hood River Soil and
Water Conservation District, Wasco
Soil and Water Conservation Dis-
trict, Friends of Family Farmers and
the Small Business Development
Center are coordinating a farmland
access and succession workshop
for farmers and ranchers through-
out the Columbia River Gorge. The
afternoon session will concentrate
on land access, followed by din-
ner at 5 p.m. The farm succession
workshop will follow dinner. RSVP
by March 5 or send any questions
to Nellie McAdams, nellie@rog-
uefarmcorps.org, 971-409-6806.
Friday, March 16
Ten Acres and a Dream small
acreage workshop. 8:30 a.m.-4:30
p.m. Ponderay Events Center, 401
20 Northwest Locations
Bonner Mall Way, Suite E, Sand-
point, Idaho. Topics include living
on the land, growing crops, raising
livestock, managing pastures and
forestry fundamentals. Cost: $15.
Website: http://bit.ly/2Gxia5S
Saturday, March 17
Ten Acres and a Dream small
acreage workshop. 8:30 a.m.-4:30
p.m. Centennial Distributing Co.,
701 West Buckles Road, Hayden,
Idaho. Topics include living on the
land, raising crops and livestock,
managing pastures and forestry
fundamentals. Cost: $15. Website:
http://bit.ly/2Gxia5S
Sunday, March 18
Fruit Propagation Fair. 10
a.m.-4 p.m. Clackamas Coun-
ty Fairgrounds, 694 NE Fourth
Ave., Canby, Ore. The fair offers
attendees hundreds of variet-
ies of free scions and cuttings.
If you graft, this is paradise. Or
you can choose custom grafting
by experts for only $5. Free with
1-800-765-9055
admission are hundreds of vari-
eties of apple, pear, cherry, plum
and persimmon scions. There
will also be cuttings of grapes,
kiwis and figs to root. Arrive ear-
ly for the best selection. Home
Orchard Society experts will be
available to answer fruit-growing
questions. Mason bee supplies
are available for sale, as well as
fruit-growing publications. Cost:
$7 per person or $12 per family
for non-members. Website: http://
homeorchardsociety.org
Tuesday-Thursday
March 20-22
International Mass Timber Con-
ference. Oregon Convention Cen-
ter, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr.
Blvd., Portland, Ore. There will be
70-plus speakers from 20 nations
and more than 60 exhibits, plus a
tour of Oregon’s mass timber build-
ings. Website: www.forestbusiness-
network.com
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Index
Markets ................................11
Opinion .................................. 6
Snowpack .............................. 4
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