I walk the edges of a different golf course these days, within a mile or so of my house, 10 miles west of Portland Oregon. It’s halfway up a ridge on the degraded volcanic hills of the Tualatin Mountains, which connect with Portland’s West Hills to encircle the City.
On that ridge, the Bonneville Power Administration possesses a 200-yard, 100 mile right of way easement, through which its power lines stretch from the Columbia River dams to $10 billion Intel semiconductor refinery. That easement bisects part of the golf course and is a park, and BPA named it mundanely.
The golf course’s grassy meadows extend on both sides of the Park. Suburban neighborhoods, including mine, border the golf course, their yards bristling with 50-80 foot high firs, spruce, pines, and redwoods.
In recent months, we’d often seen two young red-tailed hawks swirling in the air above our house and neighborhood. Crows and an occasional little brown bird badgered the hawks, chasing them out of the nearby trees.
Sometimes the hawks perused my yard from nearby tree tops, until the crows sussed them out.
But the other day, I was on the driving range at the golf course. I could see a crow on top of the highest power line pole, probably laughing at the hopeful golfers whom appeared to be practicing the little-known zen pose, The Awkward Lunge.
Then along comes the red tailed hawk. Out of fifty power line poles to choose from, it decides it must sit on the very pole where the crow is currently in repose. It lands and shoulders the crow aside. The crow starts cawing loudly and flapping its wings.
Then the crow counterattacks.
The Hawk darts away, the crow follows, pecking the hawk’s back and hindquarters, and the two of them spiral over the nearby houses until they are out of sight.
It looked like the hawk deliberately sought a fight with the crow — again? And it seemed like this was an ongoing feud for weeks, and day after day it ended with the crow chasing the hawk. Why would the hawk waste its energy this way? The hawk seems young, maybe foolish too.
If the crows felt like it, they could put out a contract on the hawk. They’ve got the numbers.
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