Ding dong, hawk at the door!

 

Yesterday evening, we were just about to sit down for some spicy taco soup (so wonderfully prepared by you-know-who–moi!) when the doorbell rang. Then someone knocked. Very insistently. I opened the door to find our friend, Thomas, with his teen son, Jonathan. 

"We found this bird injured on Mesquite Street," Thomas said, holding a brown jacket in his arms. "A cat was about to get it. What should we do with it?"

"Take it to Wildlife Rescue!" I immediately answered. Thomas didn't look so sure. Out in his pickup, some dogs barked. I knew Thomas already had a full enough plate to handle.

"We'll take it," I offered. Thomas nodded with relief. And, sure, he nodded, we could borrow the brown jacket that he'd to capture the hawk. I didn't want to disturb or stress the bird any further by taking it off. Then to keep the bird calm bird, James placed a blue cloth napkin over the opening where its head was visible. 

 Then off we went!  

At Wildlife Rescue, we were ushered into an office/exam room, where a volunteer carefully unwrapped the hawk from the coat. She kept the napkin over its head. Then she placed it in a large pet carrier. We could tell that its left wing was definitely injured. "It's either broken or dislocated," the volunteer told James.

Another volunteer said hawks can be injured or killed when they're fixated on prey down below on the ground and don't see an oncoming vehicle. That's probably what happened to our little hawk. But we haven't heard back yet on its diagnosis and condition. We'll let you know when we do.

 

Oh, yes, I must add that the second volunteer also said that the aforementioned cat would NOT have fared well in a tangle with this hawk (lucky cat). And, yes, we returned the brown jacket to Thomas and then enjoyed our spicy taco soup. Finally. :-)   

UPDATE David from Wildlife Rescue just called (2:30 p.m.). Our hawk is a MERLIN, not a kestrel (which is what we'd thought it was). The bird is doing fine, he said, and likely has soft tissue damage in the wing, which should heal. It probably hit a window or a car. They'll likely call us once our merlin has healed so we can pick it up and release it back in our neighborhood!  

* * *

My taco soup 
(recipe for Cynthia)

Hamburger
Minced garlic
Chopped onion
1 can corn
1 can red beans
1 can Rotel
1 small can tomato sauce
Half cup or more water
Pkg of taco seasoning (I used the rest of two opened pkgs)

I used less than a half pound of meat and two big cloves of garlic. Brown the meat in a pot. Add and saute garlic and onion until limp. Then dump in the canned ingredients (I poured off some of the liquids but not all). Then add water and seasoning. This is soup, not chili. I simmered the soup on low on the stove all afternoon. Voila! 

Some taco recipes call for a package of Hidden Valley Dressing mix, which is suppose to add a twang. 

MARCH 12, 2015, UPDATE–Sad news about our merlin friend....

"I’m sorry to say that he did not make it. We treated and monitored him continuously during his time here, but his condition was too poor, and he passed away earlier this week. Apparently, his tissue and muscle damage was too extensive. Thank you for all the care you gave him while he was still in this world."

Sincerely, Sarah H., Director of Animal Operations