A report of a red-tailed hawk with bells and jesses was called in to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Thursday, January 26. According to the the information that I received this morning from the DEP, the witness reported a "large hawk, probably a red-tail" with bells and jesses coming down to feed on a deer carcass in the Pease Brook Wildlife Management Area in Lebanon, Connecticut. That's in the southeastern part of the state - not far from the Rhode Isalnd border.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find out if the bird is a first-year bird or an older bird. A friend of mine, who is a licensed CT falconer and lives nearby, is going out today to see if he can bring the bird down to a lure.
My guess is that this is not a Connecticut falconer's bird and probably came from Massachusetts or New York (or possibly even New Jersey or Maine). I don't think it could be a Rhode Island falconer's bird as there is only one praciting falconer in the state (my sponsor) and I know that he is not missing his bird.
Let me know if you know of anyone missing a RT that might have possibly ended up in CT.
- Jon D.
Update: My friend spotted the bird and heard the bells. He couldn't get close enough to tell if it is a juvie or an older bird and it wouldn't come down to the lure. His guess was that it's been out (away from the falconer) for some time and has been hunting on its own.
Last Edit: Jan 30, 2006 16:17:11 GMT -5 by jondarp
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