Its eyes watched me as I ap-
proached. The hawk looked right
through me but made no effort
to move, fly or make a sound.
I could see that its left leg was
hooked between the fence post
and the top strand of barbed
wire. Its right leg and claw were
gripping the second strand very
tightly. I had no choice but
to try and help, as anyone would
have done.
I went back to my bike and put
on my full cycle gloves and
returned. The hawk stayed calm
as I reached over the fence and
grabbed its left leg and lifted.
This took the pressure off and I
gradually freed its trapped claw.
I put the hawk down in the
long grass on the other side of
the fence. Its piercing eyes just
stared at me in disbelief.
I snapped some final pictures
and let it be. On our return cycle,
I stopped in the same spot, but
the hawk was gone.
Upon my return to Edmonton,
I sent some pictures to biologist
and author of “Birds of Alberta,”
Chris Fisher, for help in raptor
identification. He confirmed that
it was a juvenile red-tailed hawk.
It was quite an unexpected
adventure. I believe that this
raptor and I bonded in some
strange way on that beautiful
Okanagan day. nDarwin and Betty’s quiet
Okanagan morning bike ride
resulted in the rescue of
a red-tailed hawk.25