Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507180127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For five mornings, in the predawn darkness, Roberts had climbed an adjacent oak tree, laboring upward 32 feet on an aluminum ladder, then pulling higher on limbs and tree-stand spikes to reach his blind near the level of the nest.
A landowner had told him about the birds after hearing their raucous calling.
``When I found the nest, the little ones were ready to fledge,'' said Roberts, who lives in Bedford County. ``They had lost their white down. They had gotten their primaries. They were into the wing-stretching and flying mode. They were ready to leave. That's why I went into such a panic. It was a fantastic opportunity, even though the nest was up 60 feet.''
A well-known hunter, Roberts is the founder of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, but he finds himself grabbing his camera more often nowadays than his gun or bow. The switch isn't the result of a philosophical change, but is motivated by the challenge of getting pictures of nature's wildest creatures and sharing them with youngsters through a wildlife-appreciation program called Return to Nature, Inc.
Roberts was surprised to find the hawk nest in a lone pine, one of a handful of straggler trees left in a cut-over. There were groves of hardwoods 200 yards away.
The first morning in his blind, he waited for good light, listening to the whippoorwills and yellow-breasted chats, and watching scarlet tangeres and gnat catches at eye level.
``It was a fantastic deal,'' he said. ``I could see the silhouettes of sleeping hawks outlined against the dim sky. Occasionally, there was movement as the birds adjusted their positions.''
For a close-up, Roberts put a 1.4X extender on his 400mm lens, a move that proved to be ill-timed.
``Within five minutes, the adult male flew in with a large black rat snake,'' Roberts said.
Roberts had the wrong lens to get the adult with the snake. Before he could change, the male dropped the snake into the nest and winged away. Missing the opportunity for the shot devastated Roberts.
The young hawks appeared to be a bit confused by the snake, then they began ripping it apart.
Roberts climbed into his blind without the aid of a flashlight each morning to avoid alarming the young birds. They appeared more curious than concerned.
``They would get up just like humans do at first light and stretch and dispose of waste,'' Roberts said. ``With my lenses, I could actually see the birds breathing.''
The young birds kept Roberts fascinated with their varied activities, including games played in their 3-foot-wide nest.
``There was one I called the pine-cone game,'' he said. ``One of them picked up a pine cone and the other tried to take it away. He tossed it on the other side of the nest and they both made a dash for it. They did this probably for an hour.''
Roberts noted an uneasiness in one bird that appeared to be several days older than the other.
``When the wind would blow, it would stretch its wings and bound up and down and lift itself off the next,'' he said. ``It was kind of like a testing ground. A couple of times it actually almost fell off the nest, hanging on by its talons and pulling itself back in.''
On the fifth morning, the stars were sparkling as Roberts climbed into his stand. The sun came up to illuminate a perfect blue sky. The wind was calm. At 8:35 - Roberts remembers the exact minute - the adult female approached. The large, stocky bird, with broad wings, carried a rabbit to her chicks.
``She was there 20 minutes,'' Roberts said. ``She did everything I could have asked her to do. I shot three rolls. The clicking of the camera shutter didn't bother her. The loud rewinding noise didn't bother her. This was as exciting as photographing a big bull elk in a Wyoming meadow.''
First, the hawk pulled the ears off the rabbit. Then the head.
``She defurred the back and began ripping off pieces and feeding the youngsters. She fed them until they were full and didn't want anything else. At that point, she consumed the rest of the rabbit herself. Flying from the nest, the adult broke the morning silence with a piercing scream.''
Roberts felt like shouting himself. He had the pictures he wanted.
The photographs, he hopes, will teach an appreciation of raptors as predators, not just to the youngsters impacted by the Return to Nature program he founded, but also to hunters.
``There is a lot of disrespect for birds of prey,'' he said. ``I know they are protected, but at the same time a lot of sportsmen see them as a conflict of interest. That is a bad concept, because these birds are part of nature's scheme. They should be appreciated.''
The Return to Nature, Inc., office is located in the Central Fidelity Bank Building, P.O. Box 620, Lynchburg, 24505, 804-847-4671.
by CNB