Breadth Thrusts & Bread Crusts: Distracted by Decoys

JC Parets
July 8, 2021

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

You guys need to come see this...

That’s what an excited neighbor told us after randomly knocking on our front door earlier this week. 

We followed her out to our yard by the sidewalk to find a trio of scientists readying to catch and study a pair of Cooper's Hawks that have been nesting in a tree across the street. They constructed a trap with a net stretched between a couple of poles and a distress call playing over a loudspeaker.

First, the female swooped in, followed by the male. The hawks were quickly entangled in the net and the scientists began to band and measure them.

The whole point of this operation was to increase understanding of these magnificent and highly-adaptable raptors. While steering clear of the birds’ long, sharp talons (and less successfully avoiding their curved beaks), the scientists conducted a thorough bird physical -- counting wing feathers, recording eye color, etc.

I even had a chance to listen to the male’s heartbeat. Bands in place and observations complete, the crew released the birds back into the relative wild of our neighborhood.

Despite all the activity, the most notable part of the process was a great horned owl perched on a stand by the road that served as a decoy. You see, that was part of the setup to lure the hawks. The distress call, coupled with the perceived threat from the owl, brought in our quarry.

If you happened to drive by without knowing exactly what was going on, you would have thought the owl was the focus of the operation. Passerbys pointed and took pictures of it as if it landed there on its own. (The truth is it’s kept in captivity and literally arrived at that location in the back seat of someone's car). Later, neighbors asked what was going on with the owl in our front yard. But no one has said anything about the hawks… 

To the casual observer, the owl was the news. To the scientists -- those engaged in the process -- the hawks were the focus. The owl was just noise. 

As we consider the market, we want to be sure to look past the owls that receive all the attention and keep our eyes out for the hawks -- the real stories that matter to our process. 

That’s why we preach patience, discipline, and the search for information leading to opportunity. 

Don’t get distracted by the decoys.  

 

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