Finally

The weather has been pretty cold and crappy. It is obvious by now that the ponds are not going to thaw before the end of the Duck season.

We had some Falconer friends arrive, so the house and place was hopping. Ron (a former apprentice from Klamath Falls) and Joyce arrived just after Christmas, Pat (also former apprentice from Burns) and Ray, a friend of hers and ours, came down as well. The first full day after Ron and Joyce arrived, we took them to Leslie Gulch on a sight seeing tour. On the way back we stopped at the Skinner Ranch to do a bit of hunting with his Harris Hawk female. It had snowed while we were down in the Gulch and there was a  bit of wind blowing. Harris Hawks are a desert bird and do not handle snow and cold wind very well at all. There were Jacks and Bunnies going all over the place and at this time of the year all the dumb ones are long dead. A couple of chases and landing in the snow soon had her holding one leg up under her feathers to try vainly to keep warm. It didn't work, and she soon convinced us that it was a losing proposition.

Pat was due to arrive the next morning, so the plan was to wait for her to arrive before going out hunting. She finally arrived about 1:30 PM just in time to go with us to hunt Jessie. I had decided to take Jess to the Lake and try our luck. We had taken her out to the ditches again, but though she had knocked ducks down out of the sky, they all landed in the water, and we were both getting discouraged. So I decided to take a chance on the Lake again since I had not hit it for quite a while. Pat decided to stay at the house, so Ron, Joyce and Ray and I loaded in the truck to try our luck. I had to leave the dogs at home, which broke Curly and Betsy's heart. Nobody wanted to share the truck seat with two wet dogs.

The outside temp was 18 degrees, and the fog ceiling was about 400 feet. I turned Jessie loose and she didn't take too long to disappear into the fog. I considered it a good sign when she kept flying rather than coming back to me. As we got closer to the Lake we could see her just under the fog ceiling circling over the Lake. When she was in position I flushed the ducks which flew up and over the trees. Jessie came slashing down on the other side of the trees and did not reappear. Like an idiot I didn't bring my telemetry receiver, so Joyce kindly agreed to return to the truck to get it while I looked for Jess on foot. I did finally find her with Ray's help. She had knocked a Ringneck Duck down into a little depression surrounding a spring that popped up out of the ground. She was standing on the duck in the water at the edge of the spring. She was soaked and her feathers were freezing, but she was a happy camper with a steaming duck in her talons. I pulled her and the duck out of the water to allow her to eat for a bit. After she had fed for a bit, I picked her up to finish her meal while we made out way to the truck. The whole outing including the drive covered one hour.

After I put her in the shop and turned the heat on so she could thaw out, we picked up Peg and Chili, Ron's Harris, to chase a few rabbits.

As we were driving to the field I showed them one of the ponds that I sometimes hunt with Jess and there was a cow standing on the frozen pond. Have I told you that it has been a bit cool?

When we arrived at the field in Arock, there were Pheasants in one corner of the field, so we turned Chili out to try her luck. She chased a rooster out of the field and into the Sage. The Pheasant was playing hide and seek with Chili in the tall Sage. As we walked up to help her, Pheasants were flying every where. The one that Chili was after finally busted and flew up hill finally losing her. We chased Bunnies and Jacks until she froze up again, forcing us to return to the truck. Peg had no better luck, with the cold and snow, so we all trouped back home to a dinner of smoked Turkey with all the fixings.

New twist, same result.

It was a bit foggy this morning and storms were all around this afternoon, but still not that bad an afternoon. The temps were 33 when we pulled out of the yard to try once more to catch a duck with Jessie and end this dry spell. I normally quit about this time of the year mostly because of the scarcity of the game and opportunities. Last year the weather was just plain miserable with high winds every day. This year it is a bit more moderate, but the game is tough. The Lake has provided me with a lot more chances than I have had in the past, but you can only go to the well so many times before the chances start to dry up. There are ducks on the ditches at the Ranch, but you have to bracket them just right or they just fly down the ditch and discourage every one, so I thought to try the lake one more time and hope that there was something on it that Jessie could catch. Then I could gorge her and take three days off before I had to hit it again.  As you can see from both the Blue mountains

and from the Steen's the weather is a bit worse all around us. It is strange, but it is like living in the eye of a hurricane, most of the bad weather goes around us, with the exception of the wind. Jessie seemed to take forever to fly off my fist. I was getting tired but Betsy held her point until Jessie finally took to the air.

She flew straight out over the lake and just as quickly circled back over us. I knew that something was wrong, as she never does this. I continued on towards the lake, Jessie strafed me close enough that I jumped. She then strafed Karen, and flew back around coming straight towards me. I bent over with my back to her in case she intended to do more than fly by. I was more than surprised when she landed on my shoulder. She has never done that before, ever! In fact she avoids landing on the fist or anywhere that I can get hold of her. She knows that once she gets on the fist, flying is over. I stood there with my ears trying their best to look small and unoffensive, since this is a new experience for me and I had no idea what was going to happen next. While the statement that " they go for the eyes", is totally false, I am not sure how ears play into the situation. I am happy to report that I still do not know the answer to that question.

I tried to get her on the fist, but she would have none of that, and flew off and landed on a bush on the hillside. I told Karen that there were no ducks on the Lake at all and we walked forward to see for ourselves. Jessie was right and the Lake was empty. Some birds you could call to the lure, pick up with a little tidbit and go fly again somewhere else. Unfortunately Jessie isn't one of them. I thought it over, and decided to give her the ration that I would have given her if she had caught something, and fly Peg on the morrow. I took out the half Mallard breast and waved it in the air to her and she flew over hit the fist and tried to rip the food out of my hand. Of course she failed at that, but while she was hanging upside down holding on to the food, the little darling reached up and bit my little finger as hard as she could. This made her feel better and me to laugh.  One wouldn't want to think that she was getting soft, now would you?

We went over to the ranch to drop off some stuff that I had for Sharron and of course the ditches were lousy with ducks. Some times are like that.

When we got home, we found that three of the neighbors cows were inside the gate. There are a couple hundred of his cows here eating the tumble weeds and anything else they can find. They had so far stayed out of the fenced area, but these three wandered in. We drove past them and attempted to move them out of the gate. One of them of course felt that she had to go over the fence, leaving a lot of hair behind from the barb wire. She managed to stretch the wire enough that I will have to tighten it later.

I really hate ditches!

Apparently I gave Jessie the "big head" by bragging on her the last time. On the 16th when she came down to weight again, we went back over to the ranch and Picked up Grace to try the ditches again. Grace likes to see her fly and had yet to see her kill anything, so I called her mother and asked if Grace could come out to play with us.

We went up past the barn to an area of the ditch that I was sure would have ducks in it. Well, we went too far. The ducks were behind us. We had the whole remuda of ranch horses following us, and then spinning and throwing mud from their hooves when they would spook and run. One of the kid's horses doesn't like dogs, so he spent his time trying to run down Betsy. He was no match for her.

Jessie took a good pitch and we ran the ditch only to find that there was nothing where I hoped there would be. We finally got far enough down the ditch for a Mallard to flush far enough behind us that she could not get a shot at him until he was back over the ditch. She knocked him in the water anyway. She didn't kill him, but he won't forget her for a while either. She finally wore out and sat down somewhere. I thought that I had a line on another bunch of ducks and waited for her to rest and get back up. When she finally came back the ducks had found hiding places that we could not locate them. I called her down and fed her a too big a chunk of duck breast.

We skipped the 17th and yesterday we decided to go to the Lake to see if we could find some ducks without their Goose escort over there. She took her place over the Lake and when we topped the hill there were both ducks and Geese on the pond. I gritted my teeth and walked far enough that they flushed off the pond. She came down and tapped a Mallard, but didn't knock him to the ground. She then flew over to the bank and landed. There were still ducks on the Lake and she had not flown long enough to be tired. We waited for her to get back in the air, but she just wasn't that interested and wanted her meal given to her. Well this time I was ready and I put a duck leg on the lure with no fat or skin on it, and called her down to that. When she finished that I offered her only the outer part of the ducks wing. There was a little bit of meat on it, but not enough to maintain her weight. She flew to the fist and I snapped her jesses and started back to the truck. She tried to fly off with the food and I let her have control of the food. She hung upside down and basically threw a fit. I kept walking. She regained the fist only to try to fly off again. Now she knows better than this. For the most part I ignored her and continued walking to the truck. She continued to hang there and be a butt. I continued to ignore her and she in one of her snits lost her wing. I continued walking. She regained the fist and I put her hood on and put her in the truck.

Today she was quite a bit lower in weight than I have been flying her. We again picked up Grace and went back to the Lake. She took a good pitch right over the top of the lake. The ducks appeared to be Scaup and when they flushed she was too eager and smacked one into the chest high reeds at the end of the pond. I was pretty sure that we had no chance to recover this one. She had gone down into the reeds, but came back out before we got there, and took to the air again. The dogs and I tried to find it, but to no avail. We did finally flush it out of the reeds and Jessie who was screwing around down low, tail chased it out of sight. I looked for her, hoping that she had managed to catch it, but ended up calling her down to the lure. This time she didn't screw around and ate every morsel that she could.

If I can find some ducks tomorrow, she will do better. She will be very tired of being hungry.

I hate ditch hawking! #18

When I went in to get the birds to take out to the weathering area this morning, Jessie's right wing was bloody and her first primary was bent out at a nasty angle. It was causing her quite a bit of pain. I got a pair of good dykes and took her in the house to get Karen to help me. Karen was in the shower, so we waited for her to get out. Jessie got distracted by the bird in the mirror and I clipped the feather off. She yelped and flew, throwing blood all over the mirror and wall. Not sure how she did it, but with it off she at least had a chance to fly.

When we were last over at the ranch, I promised Tammy that I would hunt there at their house the next time that Jessie was down to weight. That was today, and we made our way over there around 2PM. I could see at least one duck on the ditch, so after every one was ready, I turned Jess loose on the other side of the house away from the ducks. She picked up some altitude and positioned over the ditch to make her circles.

Grace and Reuben had walked with me to make the flush, Jess had a good pitch but unfortunately a duck flushed early and she started her stoop before I was ready, unfortunately he was still over the creek and although she hit him, she only knocked him into the water. She went back up again amid ducks flying every where but mostly over the water so they could duck back into the ditch if she got too close. A bunch flushed and flew down the ditch drawing her with them, and she stayed down the ditch with them leaving me and the kids to slog through a couple of fences and a lot of muck. By the time that we neared her position she had been flying and trying for the ducks for about 15 minutes or more. She landed in the sage to rest and we took the opportunity to get in position on either side of a whole lot of ducks that were on the ditch. After a short rest she took to the air again and when she had some height we made a run in bracketing the ducks. I am ashamed to say that I lost her in the flocks dispersal in all directions.  I had an impression of a duck going down in the brush on the other side of the ditch.

The kids hadn't seen anything either, so I looked for a spot to wade across the ditch. I found a spot thanks to gauging the depth by watching Curly wade across. Neither Betsy or I could find her anywhere. I looked all over and even swung the lure. She of course did not come to the lure, so I was sure that she was down with a duck in her feet.

Karen had stayed at the ranch house with Tammy, and unfortunately she had not brought her portable radio, so I had no way to talk to her. I asked Grace to go back to the house to tell Karen that I needed the telemetry. In the meantime, I continued to look for her, and of course asked Betsy to find her. Well neither one of us had any luck. I had looked for at least 30 minutes with no success, and Grace hadn't returned, so I crossed the creek again and started the 1/4 mile walk back to the house to get the telemetry. By this time I was getting concerned with the amount of Duck that the little girl had probably consumed. I did not want her to get full because I would not be able to get her back, probably for a couple of days. There is no assurance that she would even stay in the area. Not a good situation.

I met Karen within 100 yards of the house and started my trek back to the area where she had to be. I followed the signal to where she was and even walked within a foot of her without seeing her, even with the telemetry. She had caught a Drake Mallard and had eaten most of the flesh off the back. I was happy that she hadn't turned him over where there was more flesh and fat to eat. I was flustered enough that I didn't even take a picture even though this time I had carried my camera.  I picked her up and we made our way back. I picked a likely spot to cross the ditch and promptly went in up to my knees, which was a substantial amount over my boots.

On the way back, Curly flushed a Mallard that could just barely fly, obviously the one that she had hit earlier.

A few observations about Jessie would be timely here. I have had quite a few falcons and hawks, and I do believe I have mentioned before that I have never seen one quite like her. Most of it is due to her subspecies, I believe. She does not sit on poles, rarely on fence posts. She does not wander, even if disappointed in a busted flush. She does not quit. She will fly as long as she can, lands on the ground when she can no longer fly, and will get back up to continue the hunt as soon as she has rested a bit. I have never had to look for her in the sky, she has always been there. Yeah she is opinionated, a bit cranky at times, but she is the best falcon that I personally have ever seen.

I did lose her once when we moved here. She was gone for two days and nights. I wrecked my airplane looking for her. She showed up the next day at the house, calling to me. She came down to a quail and was too full of something to even eat any of it.

The temps are better today, but it is still cold. She was bloody and muddy. I drew a bucket of water and as soon as she could see me, she began flapping in excitement. I poured her bath and started the heat in the shop. She was on the ground walking up to the bath before I even got out of the weathering area. She jumped in the bath and when I came back 10 minutes later was as wet as it is possible to get. I put her on her perch and gave her a fan to blow enough air on her that she has a chance to dry out. She deserves nothing less.

The temps have really been super cold for this time of the year. A bit unusual, but I guess it was inevitable that Global Warming would be effecting the weather, by giving us below zero weather in Dec. I am sure that somewhere it must be warmer. Everything on the Owyhee River is frozen except the rapids. It is
about 6 inches thick on the still water.

It was cold enough that the Starlings were using foot warmers.

In an attempt to keep away from the Geese who are stacking up at the ranch next door since the artesian lake and the creek are clear, we drove down past Rome and back in the hills to another artesian lake there that generally doesn't freeze. Most of it was open, but there wasn't any thing on it at all.

So plan B was Pheasants at Rome. The guy's will let me hunt there, but I really don't like to. The cover is Greasewood so thick that you can't hardly walk through it. There are lots of Pheasants, just not in very good positions that one could take advantage of. I suppose that is why there are Pheasants there.

We saw a couple Roosters at the edge of a hay field, so I turned Jessie loose, and let the dogs out. I suppose that Jess was a bit confused as to where the ducks might be hanging out as she was up pretty high, but wide of where the dogs and I were working the greasewood. Betsy and I flushed a Rooster that flew towards Jess. It flew several hundred yards before Jessie turned over and started her stoop at him. Karen said that she saw her throw up high and turned back towards where the Pheasant would have hit the ground, but the cover was so thick that she couldn't find it again. She started back up in the sky, and then she had a repeat of the ( I think) problem with her transmitter harness. She was flying really weird with one wing low and really flying badly. She came over by me and landed on a clump of hay. I walked over and gave her the lure, and then the rest of her meal. When we got home, we cut the harness off her. I really like her not having anything on her feet, as she hits harder when she is unencumbered. I think that the transmitter on her leg stings her when she hits something hard enough to do some good. I just cannot escape the fact that twice she has had problems with that harness. Enough is enough!

We took Peg to a new spot and she put in some good chases on Jacks, but we ran out of cover and Jacks, so we came home empty handed all around.

Yesterday was a town day, and it was still cold as could be. When we left the house it was 4 degrees at almost 10 AM. When we left Boise it was 11 degrees and the closer we got to the house the warmer it got. It began snowing around 8 PM. We only got about 2 inches of snow, but it has been nice and warm all day. We are due more snow tonight.

Jessie was down in weight so I decided that I would go back to some ditch hawking at the ranch for some ducks. I was pretty sure that the Geese were on the Lake and I didn't want to give her a chance at them again. I had built Sharon, at the ranch, a stand for a wood stove that she was putting in, so we loaded Jessie and the dogs in the truck along with the tools that I would need. After we finished with the stove, it was duck time. There was a small group right by the barn, so I turned Jess loose and after she got her pitch, we walked up flushing the ducks. Jess came rocketing down, grabbed a Mallard, and dropped him back into the water. Circled around picked up some more altitude and smacked one down right into the edge of the water again. She then landed on a hay stack, either to rest or get her thoughts straight. I circled around the barn to walk further down the ditch to get into position to flush some more that I had seen land down there.

Betsy had some fun as we were walking through the field, dodging one of the horses that didn't like dogs. She chased Betsy around the whole time that we were in the field. Jessie decided that it was time to go hunting again and took off the hay stack gaining altitude with each wing beat. A group of Mallards took off the ditch and got over the land. Jessie pounded a Drake into the greasewood, throwing up a pretty good cloud of snow, did a quick throw up and grabbed him on the ground before he could get up again.

The creek flows good and wide as well as deep in that area, so I walked up the creek and finally found a spot that I could get across the creek with just one jump into it. The Mallard was still fighting Jessie when I got there. I helped her kill it and started to step back, when Betsy finally got too close. She has been getting increasingly brave. This time was too much. Jess left the duck with me while she beat Betsy up. She was a lot gentler with her that she ever has been with me. I think it was mostly wing whips, there was no blood involved as it always is with me. I forgot my camera with Karen, so I picked up Jess with half a pigeon breast, and started back to the barn. Karen and Grace ( 10 year old little lady From the ranch) were making their way to us, so I waited for them. Karen helped me cut the breast and wing off the Mallard, and I gave that to Jess as well.

We made our way back to the barn, and as we got to the barn, Jess was looking for "her truck". She likes to eat on her perch without my help from me if possible, so I opened the side window and she piled into the truck with her food. I secured her and closed the window.  We all loaded up and drove down, stopping to pick up Reuben, who had fallen into the creek as 6 year old boys are wont to do, and took the kids home. We spent a bit of time talking to Dave and Tammy, (the kids mother and father ) and then went back and talked to Sharon for a bit more, finally driving on back home.

Now Jess is not a slow eater. She mows right through her food with no hesitation. I open the side window to put her back on her perch, and she was still eating. Now I had not paid much attention to the passage of time, but it seemed to me that she should have been finished long ago. Oh well, there was plenty to do, so I closed the window and decided to come back later. I fed the horses, took in firewood for the night and did a few other things. This time when I approached the truck, I looked to see if she was still eating. She was standing up straight as she should have been. I opened the side window and the little stinker ran over, grabbed the remains of her duck wing and started eating again. I guess she wasn't going to take any chances on losing a snack for later. I stood there laughing and made her eat the rest of it. Its bad enough that she ate half a pigeon, and half of a Drake Mallard, she wants to pack a lunch for later.

While I was driving back yesterday, I was thinking back about Jessie's flights this fall as I generally do if I have enough time. She went from killing ducks every time I took her out, to just smacking them and seeming to not be able to catch one.  (The apparent key to that problem was that I was trading her quail for ducks. Now, she likes duck fat, but she likes quail better. Somehow she decided that since she was going to get a quail for food that there wasn't much reason to bother with the ducks. Of course that attitude forced me to cut off her rations long enough that I convinced her that I wasn't going to give her anything to eat ever again. So I started leaving the quail in the freezer and taking out duck for a pick up meal. So now when she kills a duck, I let her feed and pluck, then offered her half of a duck breast for the rest of her meal.)  A few days ago I caught a wild quail in one of my traps and decided to give it to Jess for a meal when we hunted that evening. That evening was the occasion of the last Goose that she caught. I let her chew on the Gooses neck for a while, and then picked her up with the quail. Now this was a big rooster quail, not a wimpy tame one, but she really didn't seem to be content with the trade. Finally I flopped the goose neck and head up on the fist along with the quail and she settled down and was happier. When she jumped to the perch in the truck, I also put the whole goose neck and head up there with her. When we got back home, she had eaten the quail and nibbled on the goose neck, but she was still happy. Just needs to know that I haven't pulled a fast one I guess. When we got home, I found that she had eaten all the quail and had stashed the Goose neck for later.

Getting back to my original thoughts, she was smacking ducks, then quit catching ducks, until I starved her a bit, then back to smacking ducks, pounding Geese, and today "pussy footing" ducks until she decided that they weren't going to lay down for her. She does keep things interesting.

Enough already!

It has been a few days and Jessie is down to 877 grams. Low enough to fly high and well. She has been trying to get me to fly her or failing that, feed her, but I don't think she is ready for more than 900 grams for a flying weight yet. Perhaps later.

This morning it was minus 4 degrees. Its damned early and its screwing me up. My only choice now is the Artesian Lake at the ranch or drive my butt off trying to find Sage Grouse or other upland game. Not ready to do that yet. After 1 PM Karen and I loaded up and trundled over to the Lake. There were Geese flying, but they were going down below us to Anderson Res. there was also a pretty large flock of Geese resting in the hay fields, so I felt pretty good that the Geese were not going to be a temptation for Jess.

There was a bit of wind, and the temps were 18 degrees. I took her hood off and she wasted no time getting in the air. She was zipping around and flying as though she was chasing something, but I guess she just wanted to fly and felt good. An indication that her weight was just about right. We made our way to the crest of the hill overlooking the Lake and she had climbed up to a good ( for her) height over the pond. We slowly got up to where we could see and saw nothing but Geese again. They panicked and flushed. Jessie came streaking down and smacked one of the Geese bouncing it into the ground. She threw up and as the Goose was trying to get going again slammed into him again out of our sight. Cursing, I took off again trying to get there before the dumb shit was killed by the Goose. As I cleared the ridge close to her I could see her on the Goose and it wasn't fighting at all. About that time I stubbed my toe on a frozen cow pie and took a header, eventually coming to a sliding halt about 10 feet closer than where I hit. Fortunately I didn't hurt anything much and I was down in the bottom and out of the Sage. I regained my feet and went to help her. The Goose was not fighting at all, apparently he didn't hit the ground at a glancing blow as I was fortunate enough to do. I made sure he was dead and we allowed her to eat while we took some pictures and I did some cussing about having to pluck another Goose.

Just in case any one is confused about all this, let me explain. The first Goose that she caught weighed 5.6 pounds, picked, with no wings, feet or guts and head and neck. This one weighed 8.6 pounds with no head and neck. Jessie weighs one pound 14 ounces. I just can't let her do this any more than I can prevent. Today she used the ground to do her work for her, but I can't count on that, besides I hate to pluck Geese.

Yesterday, the Third, it became clear that I was coming down with something. I have a touch of Bronchitis each winter probably  made worse by the wood stove that we heat our house with. Of course it is result of 30 years of smoking, but I digress. I got out of bed with a horrible cough, nothing else, just a racking cough. Happily Jessie was fat, as was Peg, so I curled up with a book, some Zicam, and enough Brandy to ensure that I would get some sleep.

This morning the sun rose to a better looking day as well as me feeling and sounding better. Well enough to go hawking!

After Karen drove up to get the mail, we loaded up and headed over to the Lake. I was curious to see if the Gyrfalcon was still hanging around, and had a pigeon for him if he was. Jess weighed in at 916 grams today and I was wondering how she was going to act. I have been flying her at 850 or so. I wasn't worried that she would take off,  I just wasn't sure if she would hunt at that weight. I did fly her heavier than that last year, but we worked our way up to it and the weather had been a lot colder as well. Its all attitude for the most part, and she has never been one to take off. I will admit that if the Gyr hadn't been there the last time, I would have waited another day.

When I turned her loose there was an Eagle in the sky, but both he and Jessie ignored each other and we began our walk over to the Lake. Jessie was trying to find a thermal to get some height, but gave up as we approached the Lake. We stood out of sight of the Lake while we waited for her to get in position. She was apparently heavy enough that she was getting tired, as she kept dropping lower. I decided that we needed to make our move or she would be too low to catch anything.

I was quite disappointed to find that there seemed to be nothing but Geese on the Lake. I flushed anyway hoping that there were a few ducks somewhere that I couldn't see and that Jess would get a chance at one of them. The Geese flew, Jessie stooped, and I gaped. Jessie stooped down, leveled out and grabbed a Honker and rode it to the ground way the heck out past the Lake and against the little hill across from the Lake. I yelled to Karen and took off as fast as I could, knowing that there was going to be a battle that Jessie couldn't win without help. For an old, fat, wheezing geezer, I made pretty good time. Betsy was with me and got to them before I did. Curly was still in flush mode and was looking for ducks hiding in the Tules. I could see the Goose, wings spread to their full impressive limit, towering over Jessie, who was just standing there, with who knows what going through her mind. Betsy being a Pointer was much too well mannered to be so crass as to grab a live bird, was running around in all directions at pretty much the same time. The goose bolted and tried to fly off, Betsy and I ran interference and the Goose paused long enough for Jessie to grab him by the base of the neck again. This time I was able to help.                                          

I know that I have told you in the past that Jessie is not afraid of much of anything, especially me, but I have wondered this year if she had not been avoiding Mallards. A few years ago she broke her leg hitting a Mallard Drake. ( green stick break) I know that if there are smaller ducks, she will generally catch one of them. She also hits smaller ducks and grabs the Mallards. It is rare for her to hit a Mallard. I had just about come to the conclusion that she might be a little cautious with the larger game.  (It is not unusual for falcons to avoid the tougher quarry, only catching the brown hen Mallards, and avoiding things like Rooster Pheasants and only catching hens.) Then recently there has been nothing but Mallards, and she has caught at least two. Karen said that there were a few ducks mixed in with the Geese, but there was no hesitation at all. She just decided that she wanted a Goose.

I gave Jessie half of a duck breast after she had fed on the Goose for a while and we started back to the truck. Poor Karen had to carry the Goose as it would not fit in my vest. We of course stopped for a hero shot at the top of the hill.

After she finished the breast that I gave her, I gave her the liver, and heart as well as the head and neck to chew on while we were traveling back home. She did break her first primary on her left wing about 5 inches from the end, and was blood from one end to the other. I gave her a bath, which she promptly jumped into, and started the heater in the shop to dry her out. It will be a while before we go out again. 900 plus grams is too heavy for her at this stage of the game, and she ate every thing that she could hold of some of the richest meat available. So I will throw another log on the fire, pour the brandy, grab a good book and my "blanky". It just doesn't get much better than this.

Saturday Karen and I took Peg out to Arock to hunt. Her weight was 841 grams, and I was curious to see if she was going to hunt at that weight. The temps are dropping and I hoped that she would be using the extra weight keeping warm and would still hunt. We took her in the middle of the day and although cool, it was sunny. She promptly spread her tail and gave every appearance of enjoying the sunshine. We gave her every chance to show some interest in catching something to eat, but alas, it was not to be. We took her home never even giving her more than the two tidbits that garnished her perch in the Giant hood.

Sunday Karen and I took her out much later in the evening and spent better than three hours (two for Karen and an extra one for me) trying to find a rabbit that she could catch. It just wasn't happening. I asked Karen to take the truck and meet me at a different spot as I intended to walk some more in the hopes that she would finally catch something. There was plenty of opportunities, she just wasn't getting it done.  Karen had a Doctor's appointment the next day and we were not going to be able to fly her. (I generally do not feed an unsuccessful hawk in the field that doesn't catch game.) If I had been able to hunt the next day, I just wouldn't have fed her at all, but that wasn't going to happen. So I determined to help her out by winging one so that she would feel that she had been successful.  She had been trying plenty hard, but just wasn't able to out think them. She flew to some rocks as though she had seen something. I walked to the rocks to see if there was a bunny there hiding. I caught a glimpse of something white a few feet from me to the right. I stood still trying to figure out what it could be, and realized that it could only be a Badger. It was a big ole boy and he was peering out behind the rock, not revealing any more of himself than necessary. I picked Peg up and hotfooted it in the other direction. There was no way that she could survive an encounter of that sort.  I had not gone more than 20 yards and there was a Jack sitting in a bush, so I winged it with my 22 pistol, she immediately grabbed it. I gave her a good feed and we walked back to the truck.

I had noticed a large flock of ducks feeding in one of the dry hay fields across the way from us, and when Karen and I were driving out, I pointed it out to her. While she was looking at them with the Bino's I looked up to see a falcon making a beeline for the feeding ducks. It didn't take the ducks long to see her as well and then lifted off to leave the area. The falcon was a Peregrine, and was definitely serious about catching a duck. She and some ducks disappeared against the hill side so we never found out what the outcome was. The interesting part was that I had been wondering if there was a possibility to get Jessie in the air and over them without them spooking the first time she opened wings to take off the fist. The answer of course was no! Those things flushed while the falcon was still 600 yards or more away. I guess I will have to stick to ponds. We stopped and talked to the rancher that owns the property. Evening was closing in as we traveled back home.

 

Karen and I made the trip to the Doctor in Burns, and her checkup was quite satisfactory. She is doing quite well, and the exercise is doing great things for her stamina.

She had another Doctors appointment in Boise today, ( did I mention that she is high maintenance, and has several Doctors that keep her up and running? ) Since today was the day that Duck season opened again, and Jessie was down to weight, I declined the invitation to go along.

Jessie and the dogs and I made our way back over to the Lake next door, and I turned her loose without checking for ducks. Since it was 12:30 PM I was hopeful that they were resting on the calm waters of the Lake. Jessie was enjoying the sunshine and the lift that she was getting off the top of the hill, and she took advantage of it to ring up to about 700 feet. Quite a bit higher than she normally does, and I was sure that good thing were going to happen. When she leveled off and started for the Lake, the dogs and I went with her. I finally found a group of Mallards on the edge closest to the hill where I was. They of course flushed towards the end taking the long way over the water. Even though she was higher than normal, she overtook them cutting through the flock while they were still over the water. She cut around and came back through them and grabbed a Mallard, but it soon became obvious that she wasn't going to make the bank with the duck so she let go. She started ringing up again, and was getting back up to the point that she would be able to catch one of them that had returned to the water. The dogs and I were waiting for her to get her pitch. Suddenly she was joined by a Gyrfalcon and it was pressing her. They finally crabbed and grabbed each others feet falling 20 or so feet before they let go. I yelled at Jessie and waved the half duck that I was carrying for her. She broke off and came to me landing about 15 feet away. She ran on the ground to the food, while the Gyr flew overhead looking us over. It was a dirty brown color, almost yellow in appearance, quite big. I was very surprised to say the least. Not that many of them migrate through here.  I didn't have time to trim her portion, so I will either have to fly her heavier than I have thus far or skip tomorrow. I will most likely skip.

After arriving at the truck, I opened the side window and she quickly jumped to her perch to eat without my "interference". We made the trip home and I left her in the truck to finish eating while I did some chores that needed to be done. I finally picked her up and she was still clutching the rest of the duck wing, consisting of only the outer forearm and the primary feathers. Since she wouldn't leave it in the truck, I put her on her inside perch to finish. I checked back on her later and since it was only 2 PM I intended to put her on her outside perch until evening. She had stashed the wing against the wall of her enclosure. I reached to get her and she jumped down and grabbed the wing, acting very aggressive. I had failed that test before, so I walked off and left her. Later I went back and managed to pick her up, when she forgot about the wing before I got her up off the perch. I took her out and tied her up. At dark I picked her up and took her to her inside perch. I had left her wing where it was, but I seriously doubt that I won any points any way. I thought it was very interesting that she obviously remembered my actions from an earlier similar situation.