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.