A little sunrise for you.

Today is the last day of open duck season for four days. It will open again on Dec 2nd so I wanted to fly Jessie again and gorge her on duck if she killed.  ( Federal regulations only allow 107 days to hunt ducks, so to extend the season, they first have to save a few days in the middle of the season to do so. ) Peg is still heavy from all the rabbit that I gave her from her last kill, and the wind came up pretty strong, so I decided to not fly her until tomorrow. Hopefully the wind will die down, as Harris Hawks are at a serious disadvantage when it is windy. The Jacks always run into the wind and up a hill, if there is one available. There is no such thing as a dumb bunny at this time of the year.

I decided from my last excursion at the Lake across the road, that the ducks sit on it in the middle of the day to rest and leave to go down the ditches to feed in the evening. Since it was windy enough that I didn't really want to fly the plane over there, I decided to try to find a way to see if there were ducks before I turned Jess loose. Good plan, tough to implement. The rascals spot you when your head tops the hill, so I decided to go around at a different angle and oblique to the lake. I managed to get to a spot that I could begin to see the Lake, and I could see some Coots, but those are worthless. Dynamite wouldn't get them to fly, they only dive. I kept walking step by step exposing more and more of the water. I was about 100 yards off and I finally saw two Swans sitting on the bank, but couldn't see any ducks. I was convinced that there had to be ducks on the water, so I worked my way below the Lake and the level of the dam. I got  right up to the spill way and still couldn't see anything other than Grebes. I decided to go on around the dam and try to get a look at the end nearest the reeds. I was sure that if there were ducks there they would be in the shelter of the dam from the wind. I got about halfway around and decided to gently take a look. Yeah right! I didn't even get my eyes up over the dam before a flock of about 15 Mallards rose from the water and left me to my despair.

I walked back to the truck and we trundled off to Appendix Point to see if any ducks had decided to land there. If you remember the last time I went, it was empty, so I didn't have much hope.

After a bumpy 10 mile ride, I peered over the dam to see ducks in the open water at the far end of the pond. With soaring spirits and a "Thank You", I hustled back to the truck to get Jessie. Karen and I made our plan and I turned Jessie loose while I made my way up on the cliff top to flush. Karen and the dogs were to stay on the road until I flushed. With all the wind funneling down through the draw that the pond is located in, Jessie didn't pick up much pitch even though she had plenty of time to do so. I waited until she was down wind of the ducks and flushed them out the end of the pond. She came down through the flock and grabbed a Drake Mallard and took him to the ground at the end of the pond. Karen and the dogs were closer so they went to keep her safe until I could get there. A drake Mallard weighs more than she does, and they put up a pretty good fight, Karen helped her without incident.

Karen got the truck while Jessie was finishing eating. Since it will be four days until I can hunt her again, I gave her all she could eat while we were traveling back to the house. When we arrived I gave her the liver, and she could barely choke it down. I tied her to her perch in the weathering yard. She promptly took a bath even though the wind is howling, so after she finished, I picked her up and put her in the shop on her perch and turned the heater on for her to dry.