The Kestrel and the Ducklings, by Jake DeHaan

On The Tickle Sticks last expedition we had some very exiting moments on the Suwannee River. The moment that stuck out to me the greatest was around half way through the trip the group had been paddling for a while when my boat (which was on of the boats closer to the front) heard a strange sound. The sound came from what I believe to be an American Kestrel hawk. The hawk was attempting to catch some very small ducklings as they swam with their mother in the river. As the hawk began its attack, the ducklings and their mother got separated. The mother went for cover, with a few of her young ones under the protection of a tree, that’s branches hang into the water. The ducklings that were separated began to swim down stream, away from the protection of the tree and their mother. Having the sudden urge to help these small ducks, I began to herd the ducklings back to the protection of their mother. The task was not very easy. Paddling up stream was very hard. The river was flowing at about four miles per hour and paddling upriver makes coordination much harder. Luckily the paddle wasn’t extremely far, only at most 30 feet. Once we returned the ducklings to their mother, and saw that the hawk was gone, we decided it was safe to continue our way down the river. It was an amazing experience to see a hawk hunting in its natural environment. I have had experiences with an injured Kestrel before, so it was nice to see in out in the open. Overall the Suwannee had some truly amazing experiences that can’t be forgotten. Their were many great times, which made it very hard to choose from, but watching the hawk duck interaction was absolutely amazing, and I’m so proud of myself and my group from making it through all one-hundred-twenty-five miles.