A Lost Hawk

From the Chronicle Herald
Hunting hawk goes astray
Bedford man asks public to keep eye out for missing feathered friend
By CLARE MELLOR Staff Reporter
Wed. Jan 27 - 4:53 AM


Cree, a northern goshawk, has escaped from her pen in Bedford. Owner John Conohan is asking people to keep an eye out for the bird of prey.





A Bedford man is asking the public to keep an eye out for his valuable hawk, which is missing.

John Conohan had just arrived in Clearwater, Fla., on Tuesday afternoon when he got a call from his neighbour in Bedford saying that the hawk, named Cree, was no longer in her outdoor chamber.

"He opened the door and she was gone," said Mr. Conohan, who is catching a flight back to Halifax today to look for Cree, a five-year-old northern goshawk.

Cree lives in a windowed chamber that is a little more than two metres high and two metres wide. It’s underneath the balcony of Mr. Coonan’s home on the Bedford waterfront.

When neighbour Bob Payn went to Mr. Conohan’s home to feed Cree on Tuesday afternoon, he dropped the food through a special shoot that goes directly into the chamber but he didn’t hear the bird retrieve it. Cree wears a bell that jingles when she moves.

Mr. Payn noticed that one of the bars on the window of her chamber had come loose.

"I’m assuming maybe the wind blew (one of the bars) loose. I’m hoping that no one tampered with it," Mr. Conohan said from Florida on Tuesday night.

Mr. Conohan is a professional falconer and has owned the hawk, which he uses for hunting, for about a year. He estimates the bird is worth about $3,000.

"She is a prize falconry bird," he said. "She is very well-trained. It is pretty distressing."

Northern goshawks are indigenous to Nova Scotia, which means they can withstand the cold weather.

Mr. Conohan was busy Tuesday evening contacting media outlets to get the word out about the missing bird. He also sent an email to the provincial Natural Resources Department.

"She is about the size of a large crow," he said.

"She has orange eyes. She has a black and white barred chest, black and brown wings, and a grey and black barred tail with white tips on the tail."

Cree also has small leather straps called jesses attached to her feet.

Mr. Conohan believes the bird will stay in the area.

"I don’t think she would have flown out (Monday) night because typically they don’t fly in the nighttime. . . . Normally, they will just sit in a tree until they want to hunt.

"I have a special lure that I use (to) bring her down. She is trained to come to a lure."

Mr. Conohan said Cree poses no threat to humans.

"As far as small dogs or cats, she has never attacked any of them. I don’t think she would. Yet if she is hungry, I really can’t say what she would go after for food."

Owls and even other hawks could attack Cree, Mr. Conohan said. Crows dislike hawks and would cause a big commotion if she got close to them, he said.

Mr. Payn, who has been out searching for Cree, said she is a "gorgeous bird" and he understands Mr. Conohan’s distress.

Anyone who spots the hawk can call Mr. Payn at 835-8233.

( cmellor@herald.ca)