Februar

| 81 A falcon has black eyes and a hawk’s are orange, the rst has a round head, the second triangular, the hawk is intelligent, while the falcon is so perfect and fast that he doesn’t need to be clever Oči sokola su crne, a jastreba narandžaste, prvom je glava okrugla, drugom trouglasta, jastreb je inteligentan, a soko toliko savršen i brz da mu pamet i ne treba I ntheSmederevosettlementofLeštar, inaspaciousfamily home, lives Ana Popović with her husband Đorđe and children Milica (6) and Ilija (2). She has just a few exmas remaining to graduate in economics, but she decided to utilise her artistic inclinations. Along with her friendValentina, herĐorđeandsister-in-lawIvana, shebeganmakingunique,hand-madewomen’shandbags.That’s nice, but it’s not as unusual as her other love– theone she has for birds. She breeds falcons and believes that it will one day become a serious profession. Inher yard, on special plinths, vebirdsof preystandcalmly.Wecouldn’tdifferentiate between them until Ana explained to us that a falcon has black eyes and a hawk’s are orange, the rst has a round head, the second triangular, the hawk is intelligent, while the falcon is so perfect and fast that he doesn’t need to be clever. THE GREAT FALCON IS DOWNED BYTHE MOSQUITO “This is Persa, a chicken hawk, who’s a dangerous female anda real savage.There is also the peaceable falcon Čeda, followed by Roki, whowas named after surviving a real boxer’s knockout whenhitting awindow, whileMoki is a desperado and cowboy of a breed that grows very closetomanandcanbekept inthehouse insteadof aparrot,”says Ana (33), presenting each bird to us individually. Unlike this tame cowboy, she adds, there is Guja the falcon, who is very angry, and named accordingly, and who ismix of agrey, northernand steppe falcon. AndČiki - he’s a genuine grey falcon like the one fromepic poems. Wewonderhowit is that theyall standstill, detached, almostpayingnoattentiontous. All exceptPersa, theprotector of the ock, who aps his wings and gives us sideways looks. Ana explains that thebirds arenot dangerous whenattachedwellwithaspecial tether.Nevertheless, she warns us not tomake suddenmoves. In our ignorance we think it must be cold for them as they stand still outside, but a smiling Ana convinces us that the opposite is the case. These lords of the sky and heights love snowandcold, and nd it hard tohandle the summer heat andmosquitoes. “Afalcon infectedbyamosquitomostoftendies.Our Persa is one of the fewwho survived a bite of a tigermosquito. Since then she’s been unruly like this. Falcons are more resilient, while hawks fall as though mowed down, and it isn’t well known that this kills a lot of other birds in nature, mostly sparrow-hawks,”she says knowingly. Until recently they also had a kestrel, a type of falcon that’s adjusted so well that it also lives in cities. They found it injured, treated it, andreleased itback intonature. “That’s an interesting bird. It nests in hollows of tall buildings, feeds on tiny rodents, eldmice and voles, and if there are none of themtheywill hunt sparrows, bluetits or nches.Theyhuntbyhoveringintheair, observingtheir preyon theground, thensuddenlydescending toa lower height. They then stop againmomentarily, eye their prey oncemore, thenlaunchalightning-fastattack,”explainsAna. PREDATORS LOVEWITHTHEIR STOMACHS The whole story with the birds started by accident. Ana’sweddingusher, Bojan, receivedagrey falconasagift andbrought it tohisbrotherandsister-in-law, andthrough

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzExMjc5