Snowswept

In Oklahoma it is often said, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." There is another place where this is true. The first time I was up on open moorland with eagles, just as we set out, I snapped the first photo above. An hour later, after Neil and John had made a circuit around the hill, we returned to the trucks caked in fresh snow. I quickly took the second photo before gratefully leaping back into the heated truck. The rapidity at which conditions can change is startling, and often bares no resemblance to weather on the lowland. When windy or foggy on the motorway below, it could either be compounded or non-existent on the hills above.

During the early part of the season, it is easy to gravitate towards the areas of thick heather where hares are most likely to be hunkered down. In the latter part of the season, when the now white-coated hares are more active, and often found romping about in the open - one can easily spot small white forms dotting the landscape. In both cases, though a dog certainly makes things easier, it is possible to get by without one. Snow however adds many variables to the equation. Once the landscape is blanketed in snow - a reliable dog becomes invaluable. The land is uniform and the hares are hidden. One can walk within inches of a snow-bound blue hare and never spot the black eyes or black-tipped ears.

If the dog catches the scent and the hare flushed - it leaps from its fragile chamber in a in a shower of powder and sails across the hill. The eagle is slipped and powers away in pursuit. But the falconers struggle. With the undulating landscape, there is no telling where the snow is shallow or deep, strong or weak. I recall once slipping an eagle and running to retrieve him after a miss in such conditions. Although things started out steady, I soon found myself shoulder-high in a drift, sputtering snow and red-faced as I struggled to get out and make my way towards the waiting eagle. After I managed to trudge back onto firm ground I was exhausted. (Certainly snowshoes would help in this matter!)

While in normal conditions, a fit eagle can bounce off the heather and back into flight after a miss, in the snow the impact has consequences. It may take a few seconds for an eagle to extract itself, by which time the hare has found the uphill course and secured its safety. Or if the flight has carried on a few hundred yards it can be difficult to determine visually whether the eagle has actually taken the hare. The sight of a golden on an invisible hare, pushed beneath the top layer of snow by the weight of the bird, is a unique one. These days are particularly memorable not only because of the pristine winter aesthetic, but because the transformative effect of snow shifts the dynamic between hare, eagle, dog and falconer to ensure success is hard won.