Harrier Harried

I was playing tennis in the high spot of the day. The ground was being bleached by the sun. I was about to hit one of my slap-patters that passes for serve, when a huge shadow shimmered across the court. The shadow was accompanied by the unmistakable shrill echoing call of an eagle. I looked up and saw the huge wings as the bird found a thermal and started circling upwards. It’s not too unusual to see very large birds in our part of Connecticut. Huge Turkey Buzzards are very common. They are easy to distinguish from other birds by the V shape of their wings as the soar. But this was no Turkey Buzzard and that call was just so distinctive. As a boy from South London I did not think I would ever see a real eagle.

Watching it circle upwards I slowly realized something strange was going on. A smaller bird, just a black silhouette against the blue sky but about the size of a Robin, was flying around the Eagle. As I watched the small bird flew underneath the eagle and bam! The bird flew straight into the eagle’s belly. The small bird fell away briefly but then darted to above and behind the bird of prey. Then the smaller bird then flew into the tail feathers of the eagle. The dark shape was joined by another similar bird and both birds continued to harass the magnificent glider. By now they had traveled some distance from us but the small birds did not seem to let up.

I’m sure the smaller birds were protecting their young by forcing the eagle away from wherever the nests were but I gotta admit it was pretty ballsy of them. Sad for me as the eagle seemed to get the message and stayed away. Mind you, that did mean it didn’t have to watch the slaughter that ensued on the court as my wife beat me in virtually every game.

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Bazza