Thank you for visiting HawkTalk.Org
Call us at 1-770-720-1847 to discuss hawk rescue. We care for raptors (birds of prey) that cannot be released back to the wild.
We also rehabilitate hawks, owls, eagles, kites, falcons and ospreys.
We are a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization located in North Georgia providing hawk rescue and care for other raptors (birds of prey) including owls, eagles, falcons and osprey.
We operate our facility based on donations from caring people who, for one reason or another, aren’t in the position to be rehabbers themselves, but are interested in and dedicated to the preservation and protection of raptors.
We also do off site programs for schools, nature centers, scouts, birthday parties, public displays, etc. This is done on a fee basis. Please call for details!
Hacking for hawk rescue or owl rehabilitation.
Hacking is an old falconry technique that is literally, thousands of years old. Hacking (AKA soft release) is how we re-introduced the Golden Eagle back to the Cumberland Plateau in northwest Georgia, the American Bald eagle to the Lake Allatoona area north of Atlanta and the Peregrine Falcon in downtown Atlanta. We can help you with this procedure or provide it as a service.
For more information, see our blog post on Hacking Orphaned Hawks and Owls.
Here’s what we have going at Facebook
This is from a few years ago.
Sometimes I crack myself up. 🙂www.HawkTalk.org - Hawk, Owl and Eagle expert Monteen McCord teaches about birds of prey. Visit website for more FREE Information and FREE Videos. Boo...
Look at that face. Would'ja just look at it?
OK...the humans are loverly, too!
Wow what a beautiful sight that is never seen a Hawk had no idea how beautiful they are
Laura Mendoza Nickelson This is a Urasian Eagle owl, the largest species in the world. You should see how large the females are! Fortunately, Cotton is a male so he's smaller. I had a female about 20 years ago and she was just too big and mean to deal with. She did everything but spin her head in circles and vomit green pea soup. 🙂
Laura Norris when are we going
I'll repost this - something went kablewy...
Second story 'Lofty' releases makes it easier for the bird to transition - no pumping required!
And the young lady of the house set up a lemonade stand and donated the proceeds to HawkTalk. I was so surprised it was all I could do not to burst into tears...
Does anyone know of friends/family who have an old golf cart they no longer use and might be willing to either donate or sell for a song? It sure would be a benefit to haul mulch and rocks around here. I'm changing over the substrate in my Augur Buzzard's chamber from sand to pea gravel and walking buckets of rocks up the hill is just about to kill me. *sigh*
I think a 4-wheeler might be better. You can actually get all the attachments you need easier. They make flat bed trailers just for 4-Wheelers.
Except golf carts are QUIET. Motorized things scare the birds.
Oh goodness, I forgot you had an Augur! 🙂
What about a good hand truck?
Four days before my mama died, I spent about 4 hours at her side in hospital. She was incommunicado from a stroke she had suffered, but she could hear me and I am glad for that. I thanked her for loving us as best she could. I describe our childhood like that of a turtle that had laid her eggs in the sand and the three of us made it to the beach without being picked off by the pelicans. She had not been nurtured as a child, so she had no skills - I chose not to have children because I wanted to stop the line of dysfunction and to this day, don't regret my decision.
I thanked her for my sense of style and for wanting to look turned out when in public. I moved to the head of her bed and played with her hair like I did when I was a kid. I did some pressure point reflexology on her feet, which by now, were all but impossible to move as if rigor mortis had already set in. Her arms were terribly bruised from collapsed veins...she was a mess. I was a mess. We were both a mess.
I had printed off the words to Amazing Grace before I left Georgia, but I had left them down in the car, so all I could remember was the first verse. I kept apologizing to mama for not knowing the words and in a few minutes a nurse came in, put her arm around me and said, "Honey, I think I can help you with the words, so we stood there together, two complete strangers with our arms wrapped around each other shoulders singing Amazing Grace a-Capella...it was quite moving. Thirteen years later, it still moves me to tears to recount it.
The following week, mama came to me in a dream. We were back in the little house on Meadow Street where I grew up. Mama was in a hospital bed in the living room, recovering from an illness and I was sitting with her. She said that she tried so hard to talk to me when I visited her in hospital, my rubbing her feet had tickled her so, but she couldn't tell me to stop because she couldn't speak. We just laughed and laughed...
I hope she has finally found peace. I learned a lot from her, mostly how I don't wish to live my life. I am who I am today because of her...
Tears....I wish I had done the same...people always asked me why I would want to take care of my mom when she needed me too, I said just because she was a horrible mom did not mean I had to be a horrible daughter to her in her time of need....sigh
Thank you for sharing .. your selfless heart is appreciated !
There is a perspective, told to us from those who have had NDEs, whereby we make plans before we are ever born on what we want to experience. We also plan with whom we will share our lives. Some will agree to help make us stronger, even if it seems they are adversaries while we're here. Perhaps your mother and you agreed upon this before either of you were born. I like to look at those that cause me stress through this lens sometimes and see if, in fact, they have cause me to be more "me", even through ways I didn't enjoy. I always like to remember, and especially hope my own kids will remember, parents are just people who got here before us and really don't know anything. I certainly didn't!
That is a beautiful tribute. Thank you for sharing it. You are an amazing woman and I’m sure your Mom was very proud of who you became.
You have always been a VERY special person. The things you have done have been and will be remembered forever👍
I have a similar history with my mother as far as "raising" us goes. The turtle story really hits home. My sister always says our Mom was a terrible mother to children but a wonderful mother to adults. About 10 yrs ago she was having a terrible time recovering from a botched surgery. We were sure she was going to die. I sent a while afternoon in bed with her, hugging her, crying with her, apologizing and accepting her apologies for the things done and said in my childhood. She recovered. 6 months ago, when I got the phone call that shehad drowned in her bathtub, alone in her home, I felt so blessed to have had that time with her. She visits me in dreams every so often and I try to hold onto them but I rarely do.
Wow, thank you for the responses...
I don't usually post personal stuff, but I'm a little tenderhearted this time of year.
My daddy died on Good Friday '97 and my mama died on Easter Sunday '05...
My ghost story...
Shortly after daddy died, HawkTalk, the animal charity of which I am Founder and Executive Director, was featured in a statewide magazine. I received lots of calls from people that were interested in raptor rehabilitation, falconry and education, but one in particular was a call from a man that really wanted to come out to my home to meet me and see the birds. Although I live only an hour north of Atlanta, it's very secluded and I live alone, so I told him that due to security reasons, I would have to think about it and get back to him because I didn't know this guy from Adam's housecat. I guess I should have prefaced this by saying that I talk to daddy more now that he's dead than when he was alive. Mind you, he doesn't talk back, but with what happened on this particular day, at least I know that he hears me and responds to me... I had vociferously put out into the ethers my concerns about having someone out that I didn't know, what did daddy think, would he be nearby and keep me from harm, and all the rest of it...
A couple of weeks go by and the man called again to see if he could come out, so we set a time. He arrived with his falconry apprentice and they stayed for a good while. (Falconers are like fishermen...they sit around and story-tell until the cows come home...). It was close to dusk and our visit was winding down. The three of us were standing in a circle saying our goodbyes in the driveway. On my fist was perched Artemis, my Augur Buzzard. All of a sudden, my hawk becomes wildly agitated and almost comes off the glove, craning left, then right, in her attempt to see what is coming up behind this man. In seconds, he grabs with both hands the back of his shorts and lurches forward. I had to jump out of the way to prevent him from crashing into us. He whirls around and yells out, "I've just been cold-nosed by a Golden Retriever!" Startled, I said, "Wow, that must have been Sandy!" The man (along with Artemis) is still looking around nervously. He said, "But where did she go?" I said, "She died 10 days before daddy did...I guess Daddy was busy so he sent her as lookout instead…"
In life, and now even in death, Sandy annoyed EVERYONE by sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, if you get my drift. The two men jumped in their car, sped away and I never heard from them again.... As I watched them drive away, I looked skyward and although I didn’t require assistance this day, thanked my father for sending Sandy, our beloved 14 year old Golden Retriever, to watch out for me and I have henceforth, never been afraid.
I have been fortunate enough to receive signs from my son, and he has visited me in person twice. It definitely took away any fear of death, and I am not a religious person. Keep looking for those communications from our loved ones!
I love you.
Four days before my mama died, I spent about 4 hours at her side in hospital. She was incommunicado from a stroke she had suffered, but she could hear me and I am glad for that. I thanked her for loving us as best she could. I describe our childhood like that of a turtle that had laid her eggs in the sand and the three of us made it to the beach without being picked off by the pelicans. She had not been nurtured as a child, so she had no skills - I chose not to have children because I wanted to stop the line of dysfunction and to this day, don't regret my decision. I thanked her for my sense of style and for wanting to look turned out when in public. I moved to the head of her bed and played with her hair like I did when I was a kid. I did some pressure point reflexology on her feet, which by now, were all but impossible to move as if rigor mortis had already set in. Her arms were terribly bruised from collapsed veins...she was a mess. I was a mess. We were both a mess. I had printed off the words to Amazing Grace before I left Georgia, but I had left them down in the car, so all I could remember was the first verse. I kept apologizing to mama for not knowing the words and in a few minutes a nurse came in, put her arm around me and said, "Honey, I think I can help you with the words, so we stood there together, two complete strangers with our arms wrapped around each other shoulders singing Amazing Grace a-Capella...it was quite moving. Thirteen years later, it still moves me to tears to recount it. The following week, mama came to me in a dream. We were back in the little house on Meadow Street where I grew up. Mama was in a hospital bed in the living room, recovering from an illness and I was sitting with her. She said that she tried so hard to talk to me when I visited her in hospital, my rubbing her feet had tickled her so, but she couldn't tell me to stop because she couldn't speak. We just laughed and laughed... I hope she has finally found peace. I learned a lot from her, mostly how I don't wish to live my life. I am who I am today because of her...
Great story
Great story Monteen
I loved it when I could go over to Aunt Maxine’s house we always had fun. I know you miss her my mom has been gone since 1986
Loved your story🐳
More HawkTalk Happiness!
I just donated to this wonderful cause! It was easy and fast. Just click on their website, then click donate!♥️ their food is not cheap! Medical bills for raptors are very expensive & general upkeep/ cleaning/caring is also not cheap. Such a wonderful cause! Thank y’all for all you do for these magnificent birds!!♥️♥️
Very, VERY cool!
Skunk Bear
Scientists have been busy fitting wild snowy owls with backpack trackers to learn more about their lives. That allowed us to recreate the precise route of one owl — a beautiful male named Baltimore. Baltimore led us from a beach in Maryland, to a perch atop a Manhattan skyscraper, to an island in Canada, where we hoped to finally catch a glimpse of our guide.
Yes very cool!
Very awesome!
And speaking of snowies, did you see the one that was picked up by the Good Samaritan in the internet video is now healed and free? Yes!
Wicked cool! Not real sure why they all came so far south to begin with?
AMAZING....
Awesome!
I just got lovingly fussed at for posting Cotton's eyeball without watermarking it, so...
Jeez...I hate watermarks - it's all I can see when I look at this. Maybe I'll just reduce them so if someone did swipe it, it would just get all pixel-e-ated and stuff when they tried to enlarge it... 🙁
lower left corner maybe?