Catch up!

I have been a bit lax with the blog lately. Some of it is the weather and some of it is of course the Holiday blues.

We, most of the time, miss most of the nasty weather that hits SE Oregon. Due to the configuration of the Mountains to the north and south, most of the storms go around us. Not always however, and this year was the "not always" part.

We got about 4 or 5 inches of snow and the temps just dropped and has not gone back up enough to melt anything. We have had night temps in the low teen's for at least two weeks, so nothing is melting. Right now it seems as if we might just be getting a Chinook today, but its going to have to last a long time to get rid of the stuff that we have.

Before the storm hit, Karen and I went to the Valley, (Western Oregon) and picked up a new Brittney puppy. I have quite shamelessly spoiled her, and the cold and snowy weather makes for some serious nap time.

  She is 6 months old, and shows promise, but she has a lot to learn. Betsey has been my main dog since losing Curly. Of course she doesn't mind being the only dog on a hunt.

The Quail are ganged up and while gun season is over, there is nothing wrong with pointing them.

The Harris Hawks just do not do snow, so that aspect of hawking is gone, leaving only Jessie to carry the load. Tami and I took her out after the first snow fell. She went up nicely, but refused to fight a duck in the snow and never got within 200 feet of one, no matter how many we flushed. She did come down to the lure, but she didn't like it much. Bruce Haak has been coming over to hunt with me as his opportunities in Boise are almost non existent. I keep forgetting to take a camera with me, so there is not much to write about. The ducks have snookered us since the 16th. with the exception of his passage Tundra. Of course I didn't have a camera with me. It wasn't very pretty, but dead is dead, and nothing succeeds like success. Finesse will come later.

There are so many ducks on the ditches that the hawks seem to be confused by the numbers and rather come to where we are and get the best opportunity, they are drawn by the large numbers of ducks where there is more chance that the ducks will fly right down the ditch ready to splash in at the first sign of danger. Then another factor that is working against us is that both Jinx and Jessie are flying so high that they can't get to the ducks before they get into the water. Now this is a bit of a contradiction, as the main goal is to get your falcon flying as high as you can as they can thus cover more ground and have more options.

I have flown Jessie seven days in a row, and she hasn't killed anything at all. The closest was yesterday at the Lake. She stayed right over the lake, and knocked one into the reeds below the lake. That one was lost, so she went back up again. Then she chased a bunch of them down the Creek, with them splashing in every time she got in pursuit. Finally she came back to the lake and a Gadwall tried to make it back to the lake. She flew right through the trees hitting the duck into the Lake right in the trees, floundering out the other side. That one was hurt, but he was in the water, and dove rather than fly again.

We went out again today on the creek above the barn. I have only been feeding Jessie enough to have her slowly lose a little weight each day. Today she showed the signs that she was as low as I was willing to take her. She still flew, but not with the snap to her wings that she normally has. I turned her loose, and as she was getting some altitude, Rosie and Sam drove by in her truck to feed the cattle. For what ever reason Jessie shadowed her. Perhaps it was the Geese that were flushing or there were some ducks that flushed when they forded the creek. In any case she wore her self out down there and never came over us at all. We finally went her way and I swung the lure to see if she was just sitting or had somehow managed to catch something. She came back but at 25 feet ready to get the lure and some food. I ignored her in the hopes that we could make something happen. She stayed with us, but at such a low altitude that she could not catch up with the ducks that we flushed for her. I finally called her down to the lure and fed her enough food to get her back on the fist. I took her home and only then gave her a Starling to eat. I will take her out again tomorrow, hopefully she will make the connection that only kills will give you all you can eat.

Bunny day

Bruce was able to come over again, and we tailored our day to fit his schedule. He arrived at the Jct to Arock at 1:40 PM. The raptors are really stacking up. We saw two before we got there, and 4 more in Arock itself.

Sue thought about being cranky until I took her to the truck and she realized that we were going hunting. When they got out of the truck and took their first pitch on the telephone pole, we started in the field.  Bruce asked if taking his camera would jinx the hawks. I told him that I was pretty sure that it wasn't going to help the rabbit at all. We got about 60 yards into the field when Peg took after a Bunny. She missed but Sue didn't and the first one was in the bag. I gave each bird a front leg to eat. Sue finished hers quickly and then took the one that Peg was eating. We gave her some tidbits to make up for Sue's rudeness.

We got a few more slips that the birds couldn't turn into a catch, due to the proximity of the holes and burrows scattered around the Sage. Finally Sue caught another just as he was about to disappear. I finally remembered that I had a camera with me.

Finally something worth writing about.

Its been a while, but either due to me forgetting to take a camera along, or the ducks not being on the same section of ditch, I just haven't had anything positive to write about.

Bruce came down last week to hunt but unfortunately his falcon was not feeling well, and therefore didn't fly well either. There has been a female Prairie Falcon that has moved in to the ranch and apparently decided to stay.  She has been here for a while and has never bothered Jessie, or at least the one that was here then didn't try her. It is possible that this little firecracker came in and ran the smart one out. Any way when Jinx tried to fly last week and really didn't feel like it, this girl decided to show her who was boss, and proceeded to harass her with impunity. Now normally a Prairie Falcon cannot fly in the same class with a Peregrine. Most know it and never try. However this girl has a motor on her and a wing beat that I could not tell which bird was the Prairie and which the Peregrine. I have never seen a Prairie fly like that.

A prairie will establish a winter territory if they find a good spot with game, and will defend it against all other migrants. This one was also apparently hunting ducks, which is a rare trait for Prairies, who mostly prefer mice and other easy stuff.

I told Tami at the time that Jessie was going to have to kick her butt the next time that she flew, as this Prairie was going to think she was invincible.

I took Jess over there last Friday to hunt, and found some ducks right below Tami's house. Tami and the family had gone to town to Christmas shop, so I was by myself. I turned her loose and she was flying well and very high (for her). I was waiting for her to come over so that I could flush. I saw her go into a stoop and pretty soon there were two falcons in the air and Jessie was "chupping" her come to me sound. I said some not so complimentary things about Prairies in general, but none of it helped. Soon I saw them come up together and bind, tumbling about 200 feet all the way to the ground. I waited, holding my breath, and did not see either of them come back up. I regretfully turned around to get my telemetry so that I could find them. I again heard Jessie chupping and saw the two birds climbing into the sky. Breathing a sigh of relief, I watched the one in behind break off and come my way. The other turned and stooped at her, but she dodged easily, and gave chase again. The stooping bird then departed to the West.  Jessie came over my head, but too low to do any good with any duck that I might have found. I called her down and fed her. I could not see any sign that she had been in a rough and tumble fight, thankfully.

We took the Harris's out and Sue smoked a Jack no more than 50 feet out of the truck. I did not have my camera, so I didn't even bother posting it.

We also called the gal that has supplied almost all of our Brittney's over the years and she just happened to have a 6 month old female still. They had moved over to the Valley (west side of Oregon) and the zoning laws didn't allow them to keep more than 5 dogs. We decided to make a quick trip over to see if she would fit in. We left at 0530 Sunday morning and found that she indeed would work. We got home Sunday night at 2200. ( 10:00PM) 17 hours total.

She still hasn't grown in to all her body parts, and for some reason looks slant eyed to me. Perhaps she will grow into her head some day. She is a very quiet "biddable" dog. Of course the "princess" Betsey has her nose out of shape a bit, but she will get over it.

Bruce came down on Sunday and flew Jinx again. He said that she was still a little plump, but didn't mention anything about a crabby Prairie Falcon.

Jessie has been on a diet of sorts, to counteract some of that independence that has cropped up lately, so we went to the ranch to see if she was interested in killing a duck and to check for Prairies. Tami and Reuben were free to assist me today, so I decided to go past the barn and try to find some of the ducks that habitually rest there. After we slogged through the slop from the last rains, we turned her loose before we got into position. She behaved well and seemed to be circling an area of the creek a lot further up than where we were. She has in the past circled where the ducks were, so I believed her this time, and we moved further up there. When we went in for the flush, there was of course nothing there. I looked further up the creek and didn't find anything at all. We turned and started back down the creek. By this time she was getting a bit tired and had dropped down to about 50 feet high. Betsey had crossed the creek and was running down the other side. All of a sudden a Gadwall that had been hiding in the reeds, flushed up out of the creek. Jessie turned and smashed into it head on, killing it dead on contact. It is the first time she has made a head on attack. Normally she will turn and come from the rear. If she had tried that, there is no way that she would have caught it. The duck fell on the bank no more than 5 feet from the water. If it had not been killed outright it would have made the water with no problem.

We were all standing right there when she made her kill. Reuben thought that was pretty neat. Normally every thing happens so far away that you can't really tell what has happened. The strike of a Peregrine is pretty impressive especially when you are close enough to hear the result of a stoop.

As you can see the creek is pretty wide and deep here and neither Tami or Reuben had boots tall enough to keep from getting wet. Never fear, I have the new neat waders.

I bought some new and innovative waders that have a real boot with nylon waders that can be either rolled up on top of the boot so that you can walk or unroll to make hip waders. I have yet to be able to try them out and this was the perfect opportunity. We checked the creek to find a spot that we could get across. The bottom is hard, but the sides are muddy and soft. I finally found a spot and took all my stuff across and left it. I finally talked Tami into hopping on "piggy back" after first warning her that if we both fell in I would not be held responsible. She reluctantly agreed apparently thinking that I was so decrepit that I couldn't do it.  I made it across with no problem, and twisted to let her off. Nice and dry, I might add. I attempted to turn and lift my foot at the same time. Well, I got the turn part just fine, but my boot was stuck in the mud. I of course sat down in the water. I guess that is why "old guys" generally limit their chivalry to conversation, rather than deeds. We all had a good laugh and I went back to get Reuben. I also took a different route this time. The boots did work out, my feet were dry, only my butt was wet, not my spirit. I gave up long ago taking myself serious. The out side temp was 56 degrees, so I didn't suffer that much.

Jessie was able to eat her fill with no pissy Prairie Falcons to disrupt things. Things are looking up again.

Bunnies!

For whatever reason primarily wind, ice and snow, I haven't hunted the girls for a while. It just isn't worth the effort when there is snow on the ground, but the main reason for me to stay in the house was the ice storms that we had.

I have been having trouble with Sue, as she is getting aggressive on the perch. It is almost like the fable of being easier to catch a Tiger than it is to turn it loose. I have no idea why she is this way, and I sure haven't tumbled to anything that will help it. She is fine in the field, but a terror on the perch. I have been leaving her outside in the weathering area all night. As long as the weather stays reasonable I can do so.

The weather was nice today and the Harris's were close to their flying weight, so Tami and I loaded them up for some exercise. Sue was thinking about being cranky, but when I took her to the truck, she changed her mind and hopped into her box with no hesitation. Peg was about 4 oz. higher than her normal weight, but she is always willing.

One of the spots that we normally hunt was pretty muddy, so we changed and went back to our old stand by field. The girls went to the top of the telephone pole in the field when they got tired of waiting for us to get our stuff together and get on with it. Sue actually came back to the truck for a bit, then turned around and went back to the pole. We started walking toward them and jumped a Bunny. The girls were both after him, but he got into a really nasty deep hole in the Lava rock. We got the girls back on the perches and started on into the Sage. We hadn't gone more than 30 yards when Sue whipped off the perch and was really pumping back the way we came. She crashed into the brush rimming the same hole that the bunny had gone in earlier. A Bunny scream soon wafted its way back to us. To my knowledge we didn't jump anything, I can only guess that for whatever reason the Bunny decided to come out of the hole. He didn't make it back in. Sue was suspended with her chest across a Sage main trunk with her foot stretched as far as it would go with a Bunny butt in it. I reached around her and pulled the Bunny up to where she could see it. She wasted no time in grabbing it by the head. I killed it for her and tossed her a cross section of Jack Back bone and meat as a reward. When she let go of the now dead Bunny I put it in my bag, and we moved on with Peg, leaving Sue to finish and catch up when she was done.

We hadn't gone very far and jumped another Bunny that managed to get into a Badger hole before Peg could catch up. She came back to the perch after it became clear that we weren't going to be able to get it back up again. Sue finished her food and flew back up to my Perch. Within another 15 feet we jumped another Bunny. Peg was after him, and he ducked into a Sage. Peg followed him around the other side, and he turned to avoid her, just in time for Sue to blow through the bush. Another scream, and Sue had caught two Bunnies in less than 10 minutes. I killed that one as well, and tossed her a front Bunny leg. My vest was beginning to get heavy.

We had several more chases on Bunnies, and both birds took off across an open field chasing a Jack that decided that he wanted to be in another field. They were too far behind to do any good, so they sat on the rocks on that side. As we walked a bit further another Jack took off running at them. I yelled and they started flying straight at him on a head on interception. The Jack didn't loose his nerve and kept running. Sue closed in, and he jinked left, then right and left Sue sitting on the ground where he had been. Peg took her shot, but missed as well. I decided now that they were both over there, I would clean the rabbits. Well apparently they are physic, because they both headed our way, and I got nothing done.

The next Bunny that jumped, peg was pushing him very hard, but he beat her to a hole. I went up to look and saw the bunny trying to get out another hole. I jabbed the perch in his face and he turned and ran back. Apparently too far, as Peg was coming in from the other side and grabbed him. She got her first reward of a front leg, and we took Sue the other direction to let her eat in peace.

Sue by this time had a pretty good bulge in her crop, and had decided that Jacks were too much trouble, and was going to concentrate on Bunnies. I couldn't blame her. Apparently they had forgotten about us, since we hadn't hunted this area for more than a month. We jumped another Bunnie around some Lava and Sue took off after him. The Bunny checked under a large Sage when it became apparent that crossing to the next bush would allow the hawk to catch him. Sue also checked and grabbed a bit of altitude. The Bunny was so confused as to his next move that he was just spinning underneath the bush. Sue piled through the bush knocking him out towards me. She jumped up off the ground after him, but he got into a big hole under the Lava. When we walked over to where he had been there was a hand full of bunny hair where she had hit him.

Today was a testament to how far the girls had progressed. Before today Bunnies were really hard for them to catch. We were catching 10 Jacks for every Bunny. They are catching them now by out thinking them and just plain determination. 

We walked back to the truck without catching any more of them, and put the birds in their boxes. When I got home, I tied Sue to her outside perch with a Bunny head and neck to finish her meal.

I was a bit chagrined to find that I had not taken a single picture, so you will have to be satisfied with this one.

A bit of an update is in order. Tami finally got her capture permit last week, and we caught her a male (Tiercel) Kestral right there on the ranch. His name is Roy, and he is doing quite well. It is surprising how quickly a hawk can tame down with a house full of kids to help with the manning process. He is starting to fly to the fist, and all of the family likes him.

Tara, Tami's sister that lives in Portland, just passed her test with a 97 score. She will not be ready to get her bird before summer, but with the way that government agencies seem to work, it should be about the right timing. Congratulations girls! Karen and I are proud of you.

Almost too easy

It was time for our monthly grocery run to Idaho, and we wanted to get an early start. This was Thursday morning. It had snowed a lot in Boise the day before and I wanted to get there and back before it got too crazy, so I was out at first light doing the chores. My first stop is the free range Chickens. There are quite a few Sparrows and Starlings roosting in there, and they hit the holes and various escape routes when I start to open the door. This morning there was an unusual chorus coming from behind the Chicken house. I peeked around the corner and eventually picked out a lump in the predawn darkness, that seemed to be a Starling in distress. I could finally make out the little male Sharpshin Hawk that had the Starling. He looked up and saw me, but like most Sharpshins the fear factor really isn't there. Its like they never learned to fear humans. I turned and ran at my best speed to the house for the camera. On my way back I used the cover of the Chicken house to get back to my original position. The Starling was on its back with the Hawk holding it in the chest. Every time the Hawk would try to bite it, the Starling would try to stab it with its quite formidable beak. I have a Canon EOS Rebel with a 55 to 250 lens on it, which I needed to get the shot that I wanted, but it was essentially dark. I snapped every different variation that I could think of and still could not get a clear shot. I finally just gave up and put it on auto and allowed the flash to fire. I actually took several with the flash before the little guy gave up and hauled the Starling to a quieter location to finish the job.

These little guy's are really neat, and smart as well. He had seen the routine before or he was attracted to the noise of them in the little house and was lurking around there to see if he could get breakfast. They are so small and so fast most normal people, ( those who are not always looking at birds) would never be aware that they are around. Their normal habitat this time of the year is generally someones bird feeder, and they are so quick, that most never know they are there.

Jessie was down to weight today and Tami and I arranged to hunt her there at the ranch around 2:30 PM. Yesterday while in town we went to Cabela's to look for something that I could wade the creek in if necessary. With the frozen conditions, all my Duck hawking is going to be the Creek. Since they are not using any of the water coming out of the Lake, it is higher than my Bog boots. I found a pair that had water proof fabric attached to the boots that could either be rolled up on top of the boots for walking or unrolled for wading. The boot part was more comfortable that your normal rubber hip wader and with them rolled up I could still walk normally. The normal method for ditch hawking is to try to scare the ducks directly away from the ditch and over open ground so the Hawk has a chance to catch one. If you fail to do so, the duck just dives into the water, and you are screwed.

On arrival, Tami told me that there were ducks right in behind the house, and sure enough there was a dozen or so within 50 yards of the house. We went out the front and this time I remembered Betsy and took her out of the truck so she could join in the fun. I turned Jess loose using the house to cover her from the ducks. Once she is in the air, they will hold until they feel they have to fly because of human presence. I left Tami at the house to come in through the garden gate, while I circled behind the barn to come in quite a bit lower than their position. Jess had a good pitch and we started moving into position. Apparently some of them saw me and they started to fly towards Tami. She, like a good pupil yelled and waved her arms. The ducks, now about a dozen in the air, turned and started flying towards me. They however were over the land and Jess came rocketing down out of the sky from the other side of the ditch and scooped up a hen Mallard coming to ground about 20 feet in front of me.

Mallards are quite a handful for a falcon, and this one was putting up a tussle.

She doesn't seem to object to me helping her with a Mallard. In fact she seems to expect it. I finally helped her kill it and snapped her up at the same time. I let her pluck a bit before I gave her the lure with a Starling on it to eat while I cleaned the Duck.

After she finished the Starling I gave her half of the breast with all the fat on it to eat. She finished it in the truck on the way home. The whole thing took less than an hour even with visiting with Tami's husband, Dave and the kids. The only bad part of the whole deal was that I didn't get to use the waders at all. My normal foot wear would have been just fine. Oh well.

As you can see, killing a Mallard can be bloody work. So when I got home, I poured Jess a warm bath and heated up the shop so that she could dry without freezing to death. I poured the water in her bath and she was in it before I got out of the door to the weathering yard.

She splashed most of the water out and looked like a drowned rat. She was shivering and quite glad to see me when I went to pick her up. I guess it is nice to have a servant to take care of your needs.

Dec 1st with Jessie

The temps this morning were climbing above freezing even while I was lying in bed. The promise of a more comfortable day finally got me out of bed. It was still early and quite a while before the sun was even close to coming up over the horizon. Today was Jessie's day to fly, and I was excited. The days are drawing to a close when I can look forward to seeing her streaking through the sky. This year she has flown higher than she ever has. She is also flying smarter as well. Since we are now flying ditches that is good as well as being a bit irritating. Good because she keeps her height when the ducks fly down the ditch, irritating because there are some of those slips that she could pull off.

Today was mail day, ( we get mail three times a week ) and Karen took Betsy with her to get the mail. Betsy knows when mail day is and she looks forward to it, so its a little hard to leave her behind. I had told Tami that I would be over at 1 PM, and though the lady is supposed to be there at 12:30, generally the mail is late. When time rolled around, I loaded up to go, put Jessie in the truck, and drove up to the top of the hill to wait for Karen and my Duck dog to show up. Finally at 1:15 she stopped to let Betsy in the truck with me. Betsy's role is two fold, and she is pretty good at it. She helps convince the ducks to fly, and she will generally stay with Jessie when she goes to the ground. Protection for Jessie when she is the most vulnerable.

On arrival at Tami's house, I found that there were Ducks in the ditch right behind their house. I went out and put Betsy's neopreme vest on her and went to the back to get Betsy's tritronics collar. Tami met me at the back, and I totally forgot what I had intended to do. We put a transmitter on Jessie, and I turned her loose on the other side of the house from the ducks. We went around the house and through the gate and began to get into position. As we went though the gate, three Pheasants flushed into the reeds along the creek. We held our breath, because they don't have that many Pheasants on the ranch. Jessie was on the other side and didn't see them, so it was their lucky day. We started hurrying along the fence to get in position and off in the distance I could hear a mournful howl. I had forgotten to get Betsy out of the truck. Crap! Too late to go get her, so we were on our own.

We failed miserably in our flush and they went down the ditch. Jessie started, then pulled out and regained her height. We had three or four more ducks flush down the ditch. She held her pitch and began circling the ditch further down. By this time, Jessie is pretty wedded to Ducks and will circle them where ever they are hanging out. The only trouble was that it was further down the ditch than my stamina would permit. I kept doing the best I could and got very lucky. There was a large horse shoe turn in the creek, (It isn't called Crooked Creek for nothing. ) and there was a bunch of Ducks in the far side of the Creek. They flushed, and Jessie hit a Gadwall hard enough to kill it in the air. She didn't even twitch while Jess did a loop and landed on her. I was especially lucky in that the water was low enough that I was able to wade across without getting in over the top of my boots.

To say that I was stunned with my success would be an understatement. If you have never hawked Ducks on a ditch, you haven't fully experienced futility. It generally turns into the worst kind of "Rat hunt" that there is, and my last two trips with Jess on the ditch has resulted in surprising success. I should be buying lottery tickets. I am apparently shot through with luck.

Jessie really enjoyed this one, I do believe that she is beginning to like the taste of them, at least the fat that they all carry at this time of the year.

After we got back and Jessie was put on her perch in the truck, I took poor Betsy out to try to make it up to her. Tami suggested that I take her over to where the Pheasants had flown. Feeling that was a good idea, we went to the reeds and we did find one Rooster there in the reeds. While we were looking around I was very surprised to see a Little Green Heron fly into the reeds to hide.

I pulled a picture off the internet so that you would be able to see what one looks like. They are supposed to be very rare in this area. This is the second one that I have seen while I have been here.

I will not be able to hunt the girls tomorrow, as it is time for a grocery run. Hopefully the weather will hold for a while so that I can keep them going.

Girls day out

The weather has stayed a bit more moderate and Sue and Peg are getting a bit more acclimated to the cooler weather. They are also carrying more weight than I would normally fly them. The snow has for the most part passed around us so far, so there was no reason to not hit the Sage for a bit of exercise. Both Tami and I have missed the excursions with the Harris's. The sky is very overcast with snow threatening, but there isn't much on the ground at Arock.

Both Peg and Sue were pursuing with enthusiasm, but other than piles of rabbit fur we weren't getting satisfaction. The rabbits have changed, in more ways than one. Until recently the only hawk that was getting kicked off was Peg. Today however, Sue had at least three get away, leaving lots of fur on the ground. She whacked one right in front of Tami, and she hit it hard enough that she flipped head over heels. Peg also pulled some hair as well. All of this is with the Jacks, Bunnies do not stand a chance to get away once they are caught.

The Bunnies were running hot and heavy, and escaping with monotous regularity. The girls apparently had missed the hunting as well, and were really turning on the gas.

Sue ripped through a bush hard enough to shed a few feathers with the Jack loosing some hair as well. Finally they got on one that they each missed several times. Finally Sue made another grab and far off in the distance I could hear a strangled scream. We made our best time getting there, but soon we saw Peg jump up on a bush. I thought that perhaps they had lost him. As we got closer, I could see Sue on the ground. That meant that she had him by the head. Peg will help if the head is clear, but steps back if Sue has the head.

If you recall, I mentioned that the rabbits have changed. If you will notice by the color of my ears and the location of my hands, I am doing my best to separate the Jacks neck. I don't know if it is just the fact that these guys have finally reached their full growth, or if they are getting tougher. ( or me weaker) Any way while I like to catch rabbits, I would prefer that their deaths be as quick and painless as possible. Breaking their necks is quick and used to be easy. Knives around hawk toes are a bit chancy, besides they bleed all over the place. The only other solution is suffocation. I hate that almost as much as the rabbit does. I finally was able to get the job done, but it wasn't easy.

As you can see it is no little rabbit. Through it all Thayen slept like the proverbial baby.

Ditch Hawking, again

Our weather has been a bit too much to fly the Harris Hawks, so I have been giving them just enough food to keep them ready to fly if things improve. If there is snow on the ground, one just as well stay at home. Sue will try, but Peg just stays with us without giving it serious effort. I don't blame them. They just aren't suited to cold with wet snow.

The storms while they for the most part go around us at least give us nice sun rises as a consolation prize. The first one was two days ago, the second this morning.

It was a bit nipply this morning at 15 degrees. I put Jessie out, but left the girls inside until it warmed up a bit more. Bruce called about 10:00 AM telling me that he was coming over. I went out and put the charger on the airplane battery just in case the weather held and I could fly the ditch and Lake to check on Duck locations. The last two times that I have flown Jessie on the Lake there was nothing but Swans and Coots. Neither of which are suitable falcon quarry. The Swans are huge and the Coots won't fly 99 percent of the time. I decided that we would have better luck on the Creek especially since we would be hitting it with at least three people to bracket the Ducks. Without enough people the Ducks only fly up and down the ditch, diving into the water to evade the falcons stoop. If you can bracket them, they have to fly away from the water and give the falcon a chance to catch one.

Bruce arrived at 1:30 and the wind was still manageable. I checked the battery and the engine fired up, so I rolled Dart out of the hanger and took off after the engine warmed up. There were Ducks all up and down the ditch in clumps here and there. I marked two of the best looking possibilities on my way to the Lake. The Lake had four Swans, and three or four smaller Ducks. The ditch looked the most promising.

After landing and putting Dart back in the hanger,  I checked my Starling trap. It was full of Starlings and I put one of them in my vest. We loaded Jessie and Betsy up and drove over to Tami's.

Bruce was up first and after getting Jinx ready we walked to the back of Tami's house and made our plan. There was a bunch of Ducks on the ditch just down the creek from her house. Bruce turned Jinx loose and we waited until she was showing signs of wanting to play. Our position was perfect and we hit the Ducks perfectly. They started lifting off and Jinx swooped down and snatched a Gadwall out of the air right in front of us. Bruce found a spot shallow enough to wade and went over to pick her up.

The cows that were in the field had decided that they needed to be some where else. There was a possibility that they disturbed the next batch of Ducks that I wanted to fly with Jessie.

After Bruce fed Jinx, we put Jessie's transmitter on and put her in the air. She hasn't flown for a few days and it was a really nice day, so she spent some time trying to get some lift off the rising hills behind the Creek. A female Prairie came in to visit, but left without causing too much of a disturbance. Jessie just wasn't coming overhead, just circling back behind us. Finally she began to get tired and came up, but not where I hoped the ducks would be. I thought then that they had moved, and sure enough the creek was empty. We began to move down the creek, which is almost a sure way to not get a decent chance at a Duck. Jessie was back over behind us trying to get some lift when a Golden Eye came flying up the creek. Not sure how, but from all appearances had not seen Jessie. Well, Jessie saw him and turned on the power cutting between him and the Creek. Just as he began to approach the Creek, she reached out a long leg and gathered him in, flying hard enough to clear the ditch and the Cattails on the same side of the Creek that we were on.

Reubon was with us today and perhaps for the first time got to see birds taking something. He got a comfortable seat by Jessie and watched her as she ate.

After she had broken in and had eaten some of the Duck, I walked up with the Starling, and she couldn't leave the Duck fast enough to get to me. Bruce ripped a wing and half of the breast off the Duck and after Jess finished the Starling, I gave her the half of Duck to finish her meal. It is supposed to storm again tomorrow, so she will have time to get her weight back down to normal.

This is the first time that I have seen a Golden Eye here, although Bruce says that they have them in Boise. Today was great. The weather was perfect, no wind to speak of, and actually warm enough to be tolerable. Both birds were able to take a Duck, and we were alive to see it.

Visitors

The weather has continued to improve. It will be warmer, but we are supposed to get a lot more snow over the weekend. Oh well, at least is isn't that bone chilling near zero stuff. Hopefully the wind will stay down as well.

I got a call from Bruce Haak this morning. He was freshly back from the NAFA meet in Kansas. He had flown in yesterday on a commercial flight and was anxious to get his Falcon over something to hunt. I told him to hurry on down and we would be able to get his bird a slip at the Lake. With all the cold weather everything is frozen over. Actually the weather in Boise was worse than ours had been as they had snow cover. We at least had no snow. I had planned to take the girls out to catch rabbits at Arock, but plans were changed to accommodate Bruce. We could always hunt the girls on the ranch, even though there are few rabbits living here. We were only required to show them some rabbits, it was up to them to catch them. I felt that we should be able to turn up a couple at least.  The only real fly in the ointment was that the ducks only use the lake to rest during the middle of the day, then leave in the early afternoon to feed in the creek that flows out of the Lake through the ranch. Bruce didn't arrive until 2:30 PM.

We hurried to the Lake and finally put his bird in the air. She is a sister to Jessie from a different year, the only other difference is that Jessie flies at a heavier weight, and is cranky. Having her lighter would not improve her attitude at all, probably only make her meaner. Bruce had the parents of both of these birds in his breeding project and was nice enough to give me an opportunity to fly Jessie.

After Jinx was in position, we moved up to the Lake, unfortunately we were a bit late and the only thing that it held was one duck and two Coots. The Duck snuck out while Jinx was checking other portions of the Creek, leaving only the Coots. Bruce went to the far side and started kicking around in the reeds where the Coots were hiding, finally kicking them out and towards the end of the pond where I was standing. I waved and yelled and they decided to leave the pond and go down the ditch that held water. Jinx swooped down and scooped one of them out of the air.

That has to be the first time that I have ever seen a Coot in a position where a Falcon could even have a chance at catching it.

After we got back to the cars, Tami and I hustled to the area where I wanted to hunt. We Got the girls out and began walking the Sage. In total we jumped four Jacks. Peg got her feet on one, but it strained her through the Sage breaking her grip. Finally as we started back to the car a Jack jumped near Bruce and I and started up the hill away from us. Sue gave chase and grabbed him in the butt as she over flew him, flipping both of them in a full circle in the air. The Jack tried to pull her through a small bush, but it was too small. I circled around in front of him causing him to turn to the right. She reached around the bush and grabbed him in the head, and it was all over.

We fed them up as soon as I got the Jack killed. I didn't want to catch any more Jacks at the ranch. They are scarce enough as it is, and I really need the populations to improve so I won't have to drive so far next year.

Nov 24th, clear and cold

The wind finally stopped, but the cold that comes with a Jet Stream out of interior Canada makes it really miserable. The wind, sometimes up to 35 mph, was thankfully during a warmer trend than we are now contending with. Most of the country around was at or below zero this morning. Today however dawned clear and very crisp. We had 7 degrees here at the house. I left all three birds on their perches in the shop yesterday because of the wind. I could have stuck Jessie outside, but there was no point.

The ranch was shipping cattle this morning, so Tami and I decided to go hawking after noon. It makes more sense any way when it is this cold. All the ponds are now frozen solid, and the only place that there are ducks is at the artesian lake on the ranch, and the creek coming out of it. The ducks here on the ranch feed on the creeks in the morning and evenings, so the best time to hit it is in the middle of the day. The only problem with that is that there is sometimes Geese on it as well. Jessie last year killed two "honkers" off of the lake. I would prefer to not tempt her again as sooner or later one is going to kill her.

I took Betsy with me today to help out. Curly was good at finding and flushing ducks out of their hiding places. Betsy's speciality is staying with Jessie and her presence is a deterrent to anything that might want to attack Jessie. Eagles are my prime concern.

We turned Jessie loose at the fence and began our walk to the Lake. I had forgotten some of my equipment, and returned to the truck. By the time I got back to Tami, I couldn't see Jessie. Finally I located her up about 4 or 500 feet. We hurried on to the Lake, and what with watching where I was going I lost sight of her. When we got close, neither one of us could find her in the sky. I pulled out the receiver and from what I could tell she was up there somewhere, higher than my vision could find her. I have no clue how high she was. Finally I gave up and just started walking to the Lake. There was a group of about fifty Geese on the Lake that flew first. Jessie came rocketing down and thankfully did not grab any of them. There was also a Tundra Swan on the Lake as well. It stayed on the water and watched. Jessie kept fooling around trying to catch ducks that were flying down the creek, and screwing around. She made several tries, but either couldn't or didn't hit any of them. By this time we were down to three Teal next to the reeds at the end of the Lake. They flushed our direction, but Jess was out of position once again. The Swan finally took off and headed South West. Jessie was flying in that direction as well. We walked back to the top of the hill with me tying a Pigeon leg on the lure to call her down.

In retrospect, I should have sat down and waited for her to get back up again,  she will usually catch something on one of the subsequent flushes.

When we got to the top of the hill I was calling for Betsy, since she was nowhere in sight. Finally I heard her barking way off to the South. We looked and found her circling a large white object more than a quarter of a mile away in the Sage. Now I will be the first to admit that I didn't see any of this as it was happening and I can only guess what happened, but soon Jessie came from that direction to land on the lure. Betsy was out there running circles around the Swan, just like she did the last time that Jessie took a Goose. Why was the Swan on the ground after flying only a quarter of a mile from the pond. Why would it land in the Sage. I'm not sure that it could take off from the Sage. They generally have to take a running start to get airborne. I believe that the little stinker drove the Swan to the ground, and Betsy was out there trying to help her with it. I will be the first to admit that she has more guts than brains, so it is more than probable that is what happened.

Tami and I dropped Betsy and Jessie off at the house and picked up the Harris Hawks. The temps had warmed up to 24 degrees, and I felt that they would be able to handle the temps. When we drove into the Sage to where we intended to hunt, Tami pointed out a Golden sitting on one of the rock outcroppings. She flew when the truck neared and I didn't think any more about her. The girls were off chasing a Jack that refused to be caught even though they were relaying him pretty good. Tami yelled that the Eagle was coming back. The girls were both on the ground and really vulnerable. The Eagle was coming down from quite a height and she was in a full serious dive. I ran yelling and screaming at her, and she thankfully broke off her attack, and flew to another part of the area. That was the first time that any of the Eagles had even showed any interest in us. It was a Juvenile and probably was blown in on the storms.

We had some really great chases that were happening really close to us, but while they were exciting, the rabbits were winning. One Bunny that they were chasing was looking over its shoulder watching the pursuing hawk and ran straight into a Sage bush, knocking it back on its butt. It recovered fast enough to still make it to its hole before the hawk caught up. Sue was working on her "towering stoop" and she was really putting the scare into the Jacks. I am not sure but what she pulled hair from more than one. One that was close to me, was grunting like a little pig as he twisted and dodged. I had determined that when we caught one we would leave, as I wasn't sure how much of this cold they could stand. Peg was beginning to show some effects of the cold as we finished our circle back to the truck. At last a Jack jumped close by and Peg slammed into him with Sue close behind.  We wasted no time in feeding the girls all they could eat and putting them in the truck. I'm not sure how long I will be able to fly the girls if this weather doesn't break. I had hoped to be able to fly into January, but this cold is hard on them. Sue was shaking with the cold as we were feeding her. 

Stormy skies are here again.

Well it looks as though the easy times are gone for the year. We have been treated to some weather over the last week or so that has been putting a bit of a crimp in the life style that we would like to lead. Of course it is worse almost every where else, even 10 miles either direction. Ah well, some one has to be spoiled, it might as well be me.

Hunting the Peregrine is no problem with the wind and the snow. The only difficulty lies in the ponds freezing all the ducks out, but I have an edge here, in that the artisan pond on the ranch where Tami lives does not freeze. No matter the temperature. The Harris Hawks are a different matter however. Coming from the Southwestern deserts, there is no reason for water proofing on their feathers, so snow is out of the question. They also don't seem to have the weatherization that is required to withstand the wind and cold. So these cold and snowy days are really tough on them, and I don't hunt them in those conditions.

I haven't hunted them for quite a while because of the stormy conditions. The snow is mostly gone here, so I put them in the truck thinking that if nothing else I would let them fly as much as they could stand after I flew Jessie.  The temps this morning was 31 degrees and the wind was howling, so I put off hunting until around noon. The wind was bad enough that it wore out most of the light snow that we had. I had decided that I would take Jessie over to the Lake on the ranch since the ducks like to go to the lake to rest after their morning feed, then hunt the girls on the way back. The rabbits are scarce, but if nothing else it would mean that they would get a chance to fly for a bit.

The wind really kicked up by the time that we got in position at the lake. Jessie didn't even look around when I struck her hood. She just launched into the air. The wind was blowing about 25 with gusts to 35. She really didn't take that much of a pitch, but she hung around the pond. I flushed one group of the ducks that were on the pond, but she was too close and they weren't about to go over dry land, and they splashed back down. The wind was just too much and although she tried every thing she could, they either splashed back into the pond or the ditch leading out of the lake. I finally called her down to the lure, and we called it quits.

We took the girls out of their boxes and figured that we would if nothing else, walk a bit and if they showed signs of distress, feed them up for the day. The wind was really strong, and it seemed as though we were walking in a vacuum. The cover there is mostly Grease wood and it appeared that the few rabbits that used to live there had moved out. We walked a large circle of several hundred yards without seeing anything. I decided that enough was enough and started back to the truck. We had ventured down close to the fence that enclosed the pasturage of the ranch, a Jack jumped up and sprinted across the wind. Both birds were after him as soon as he moved. Sue caught up to him and rolled him, but he kicked loose. Both girls were in hot pursuit and caught up to him in another 20 yards. Sue took a shot at him, and he ducked around a Grease wood bush, but Peg was there as well. He ducked her, but by that time Sue was back and had him by the head.

I had worried about them getting rusty and slacking a bit with them not hunting much, but if anything it made them try harder. It doesn't get much better that one up, one down.

I was quite happy to call it a day, and feed them their meal.

Curly and Indy!

 Photo by John Hauck

In a lot of ways this has been one of my better years. In the area of hunting companions it has been pretty tough. We mourn the passage of Indy and Curly, two of our hunting dogs. Indy had been with us for 18 years. Really quite unbelievable that she would last that long. She was of course pretty feeble for at least a year, so her passing was expected.

Indy was a real sweetheart, lovable as could be, but terribly camera shy. I could rarely catch her off guard enough to take a picture of her. The above was taken by Larry Bourne while she was distracted by my bird.

We got Curly when Indy was 8 years old with the thought that when she died he would be in his prime and I would still have a pointer able to assist me with the hunting. Of course she stuck around for much longer than that.

Curly was one of the most fiercely independent dogs that I have ever had. He had such a drive to hunt that it was hard to keep him at home. A shock collar with a one mile range helped me to overcome that. He really began to shine when we moved to the high desert. His prowess this year with the Pack Rats was remarkable, but his main value to me was Duck hunting with the falcons. He had no compunction about diving into the water after a duck that refused to fly with a falcon over head. The size of the water made no difference. He could be counted on to find the ducks where ever they hid. Of course being a Brittney, lovable came along with the package.

It really didn't matter what you wanted to hunt, Curly was up for it. I guess the shocking part of his passing was that he didn't look his age, and I wasn't ready for him to go.

Jessie again.

The wind stopped sometime in the night, and it was cold. Jessie was down in weight enough to be nice and was imploring me to take her hunting. I got every thing done at the house and Karen agreed to come along. Tami was helping at the ranch today as they were shipping cattle. There was snow falling a bit north of the pond.

I have been having trouble spotting where Jessie and her victims had been ending up as the pond at Appendix Point is quite large and the Sage at the far end is pretty big, so I decided to go up on the cliff to flush. There was quite a large bunch of ducks on the pond again.

Betsey likes these days when it is only Jessie that is hunted. It means that she can go along, and does she ever like that. She hyperventilates something terrible. There is nothing that one can do to stop it, so we have just learned to ignore it, mostly.

 I turned Jessie loose and Betsey and I started around the hill to get into position. Karen had included the walkie talkies today so I was able to ask where Jessie was. Karen informed me that she was sitting on one of the cliff rocks on her side of the pond. Betsey and I took a seat to wait her out. Soon Jess was taking a pitch over the pond. When she leveled out, we walked down towards the edge of the cliff. There was a whole flock of ducks and they busted out the other side. Jessie came sizzling down and smacked a Mallard into the ground. They however are a tough bird, and he floundered his way back into the water before she could get turned around to catch him. Jessie then changed course and flew towards the end of the pond at about twenty five feet. I lost sight of her and assumed that she had sat down on my side of the hill to rest. She didn't show and I couldn't see her, so I decided that I would just call her to the lure. Well, she wasn't there. I had the telemetry with me so I started trying to find her. The signal kept coming from the Sage at the end of the pond. Again I had trouble pinpointing her position. I tried every variation that I could try and I could not find her. Standing in the road the signal pointed out across the sage. Walk out there and it pointed back towards the hill. I spent at least a half an hour trying to find her. Finally I turned the damn thing up with all the elements out and stumbled on her, tucked under two Sage bushes.

She had eaten all the fat off the breast of the Gadwall that she had somehow caught. I guess she intimidated him badly enough that he just gave up. She shouldn't have caught anything with the way that the flight unfolded, but as I have said before- "The girl makes things happen".

I shouldn't have been able to pick her up at all, and if she had done anything other than pick fat, she would be sleeping under the stars. Probably pissed at me for not bringing her in the shop where it is warm.

I changed Satellite providers for my email today. A product of the "recovery act". I get monthly service for $39.99 rather than the $52.00 that I had been paying.

A wind day, sigh!

This was the sunset yesterday evening. This morning the wind woke me up at 3 AM howling like all the banshee's of hell. While Jessie could withstand the winds that are currently blowing around 30 MPH, I am not sure I could. The Harris's would not enjoy it at all. So, I stayed in bed. Actually I felt sorry for Tami, trying to milk two goats in a gale in the dark so that she could meet me at the house at daylight.

Since I was bored, I uploaded a video that we took of Jessie last year at Appendix Point. I had fitted Karen with my hat "Spy" camera. Taking video's of hunting Falcons is really tough because every thing happens so fast that keeping up with a stooping falcon in a view finder is almost impossible. So I thought that she had a better chance of getting some usable video with the camera recording where she looked.

The ducks were not cooperating at all and they had dumped back into the water not giving her a chance at one over dry land. Curly, Betsy and I were doing the best we could to force them off the water. Finally one cleared the water far enough that she had a clear chance at one. She bound to it and for what ever reason choose the only clear landing spot right at Karen's feet. As you can see the flight after the catch is a controlled crash at best. The only thing that keeps the hawk from damage is that the duck acts as a cushion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL1_9GSk0sY

While I have to help the Harris Hawks kill their quarry by breaking its neck. Jessie and all falcons have a notch in their beak that allows them to separate the neck killing their quarry quickly.

Hunting in the wind.

There is a real weather front moving through and it has brought a lot of wind with it. It isn't that cold, but with the wind it doesn't matter. This means that we are having a change over on Raptors and ducks. The ducks will now be a bit fatter coming from Canada's corn fields. Jessie will be happy.

I had seriously considered skipping today when the wind woke me at 3 AM, but it was down to just aggravating by the time that daylight came around. The desire to film a hunt with the Movie camera was pretty strong, and the birds are going to have to learn to deal with the wind anyway. They had an introduction at the Burns falconry meet in Oct. and were beginning to get the hang of it then.

The camera is a Tachyon XC, a helmet cam that I have been using on the plane. I got one of Karen's headbands to secure it to my Straw hat. ( I like to wear a wide brimmed hat when I am using the Tee Perch. It keeps the glasses clean. Peg has a disconcerting habit of crapping on her person if she gets a chance.) Of course one is always moving their head, much more than you would imagine, so I did a lot of cutting and editing to get anything at all.

The birds seemed to like the wind, as they were a lot more aerial today than they are normally. Some of the chases were going a lot further than I was comfortable with. Sue caught a Jack on one of the longer flights, and then lost it before I could limp up to the scene. Of course it was tougher for them to get a really sure shot on the running rabbits, as the wind was making smooth flight impossible.

The rabbits, both Jacks and Bunnies will duck into a hole if they are pressed hard enough. One of those occasions was especially funny to watch as Sue straddled the perch pole that Tami was poking into the hole trying to get the rascal out. She wanted to watch and be prepared if she managed to rout him.

Finally we got a close slip and Sue hit the Jack first with Peg close behind securing the head. It is amazing to me that the birds can be throwing those sharp talons all around and never get one another. Sue will tussle with Peg to get her food, but they haven't hurt each other at all or me, seriously, yet.

After they finished their rewards for the Jack, we called it quits and headed back to the truck. On the way another Jack jumped and Sue gave chase. Peg who was lagging behind got after a Bunny that she found and from the wing over that she put in, I felt that she had connected. Sure enough when I got to where she had disappeared, I found her down in a hole holding onto a Bunny. A good day, one each in tough conditions, and the film to prove it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVLBSzQesfA

Jessie gets another chance.

Jessie felt tremendously put upon when I ignored all her blandishments designed to make me relent and feed her yesterday. So soon does she forget her recent bad behavior. A bit dramatic to be sure, but she did remind me that I have been entirely too lenient with her. She will generally fly and fly well with two or three extra ounces of weight, but there comes a time when she remembers that she is free, and can really be an ass if she wants to be, leaving me no choice but to humor her, at least until I get her leash back on. So my revenge was to not feed her an extra day. She merely lost enough fat to actually reach her real flying weight.

This morning every one was committed to other duties, so it was only Betsy and I to take care of the hunting chores. Actually Betsy thought that she might have gone to heaven to be able to go with me for once, and didn't even have to share with Curly, who is still recuperating from injured shoulders.

I went to Appendix Point this morning, not having visited that pond for several weeks. The Steen's is showing some of its winter coat and of course a picture was in order if for nothing else than to satisfy Bob, one of the blog's followers.

The pond was chock full of ducks, so I got Jess ready and turned her loose. She flew up the ridge line and started to land on the cliff over the pond. Then she apparently looked over her shoulder at all the ducks on the water and decided to keep flying instead. When she got her pitch and position, I began the flush. None of them wanted to leave the water and put back down on the pond. Betsy, the racing dog, soon convinced them that there was a three pronged attack in progress and the sky over the pond filled with enough ducks that I never saw the strike. Jessie however never came back up, so I knew that she was somewhere over on the other side of the pond with a duck.

No problem, I had the forethought to actually put the telemetry receiver in my vest, just for situations like this. ( Actually this behavior is not normal for me ) The unit that I have is a relatively new one for me and I really have not had to use it to find much of anything before. My last one had a gain dial that would allow me to reduce the range enough that I could use it to find the signal when it was close, rather than having to reduce the size of the antenna as on this one. To make a long explanation short, I really didn't know how to use this one. As you can see from the picture above, the pond is in sort of a bowl, and the rocks surrounding it are a "glazed" volcanic rock that reflects signals. I went to the other side of the pond on what was actually the right course, but when I got close the signal was swamping the receiver. I narrowed the reception and it appeared that the signal was now coming from the rocky hillside behind the pond. That jived with my last glimpse of her, so I trekked across the end of the pond checking to see if she was in the Sage there with a duck. Nothing! Betsy was no help, she was still in blitzkrieg mode, trying to be every where at the same time. After looking around close to the pond, I reduced the antenna by retracting some of the elements and the signal was coming from the hill side. I actually checked back the way that I had come and the signal was stronger up the hill. So I crawled through the fence and began hiking up the hillside. Finally reaching the top, the signal faded to almost nothing. (no more reflection ) I checked again and it pointed me to the Sage at the end of the pond. By this time the little rascal had about 15 minutes to stuff all the duck fat into her crop that was available. I finally arrived at the bottom and there she was in the road just around the corner from where I had decided that I needed to climb the hill.

The little darling had consumed all of the considerable fat off the breast of the Mallard drake that she had caught. I was able to snap her up, so I sat back and let her eat all she wanted.

She got enough food that I won't have to worry about her for a few days. I would like to get her back flying on the days that I fly the Harris's, but it isn't necessary. It would just be easier, and I would burn less fuel.

Sue, on fire!

I forgot to mention that I got the hot tub running again. I took the pump in to Nampa, Id. and got it rebuilt for $25.00 What a deal. If I had tried to buy a new pump it would have cost me $400. Its nice to have the hot tub again, but my butt is still sore as can be. I had to have torn some muscle.

I had another visit by, I hope, the last Raccoon in the area. Of course since these are all young, ( yearlings or two year olds at best.) there has to be an old "he Coon" somewhere. Its nice to have a creek nearby, but it means that sooner or later something is going to come calling. 

Much to Jessie's disgust, I left her at home this morning. It has been sprinkling rain most of the morning, but the weather radar only showed it centered around the house. I set up the movie camera on my hat hoping to record enough of the flights so that I would be able to make a short clip of the girls hunting, but didn't clear the card in the camera, so I got nothing. That is too bad as today was a kick in the pants to say the least. Next time.

The rain quit before we got to our hunting field, and we picked a spot that we had not hunted much before. We were not more than 30 yards from the truck when Peg took off like she had seen something, but was mistaken, and landed on a Sage. As I looked, Sue took off Tami's perch and cranked up a bit, then slammed into the ground behind Peg, grabbing a sneaking Jack by the head. That was a bit surprising. I killed the Jack, and tossed each a chunk of Bunny from the last kill. I cleaned the Jack and stowed it away in my vest. Since we had just barely gotten out of the truck, we pushed on. The rabbits were hiding really well in the cool rainy weather. We traveled quite a long way without seeing any more rabbits, and were beginning to turn back towards the truck. We jumped a Bunny and both birds were after it. Peg turned it back towards Sue. Sue slammed into the bush, and I saw her throw one of her long legs out. It came back full of Bunny. I killed that one, pulled off a front leg each for them. I cleaned the Bunny while they were eating. Peg finished hers, leaving the foot and the bones behind to fly to Tami. Sue stayed and swallowed her bones and foot as well as what Peg left behind. We jumped three Jacks that were hiding in the sage in the same little gully before the birds were ready. Eventually Sue returned to the perch and we began our trek back to the truck. Sue had quite a sizable crop, so I didn't expect much out of her for the rest of the trip.

We were within a hundred yards of the truck when a Jack jumped. Both birds gave chase. Sue again made a slashing attack that ended with a screaming Jack. She had again managed to grab it by the head. This was a BIG Jack, and Sue was lying on her side with the Jacks legs stretching her out. Every time the Jack kicked she was grunting with the effort to hold onto him. I got a grip on his legs and she wasted no time in getting out from under him, but she didn't relax her grip. I killed him and gave Tami a front leg from the earlier Jack to feed Peg, while I picked up Sue with the other one. We fed the girls up and put them in their boxes while I cleaned the rabbits. I get enough food from a Jack to feed both girls and still have six meals to put into the freezer for this winter. Today was good for two weeks of food for them.

I did a count when I got back home, and find that they have harvested 65 rabbits so far this year. Not bad for flying every other day. This is the first time that Sue has taken three head in one trip. She is something else. Peg is setting these up for her. Sue would not be doing that well without Peg's help, but Sue really is a remarkable hawk. Peg is a sweetheart, gentle as can be to every one, but a lot of these chases are initiated by her. I can't say why she isn't catching more than she does, but its not from lack of trying. I guess it is just as well or we would hardly get any hunting time.

Jessie is screwing with me again!

I have to admit that some of this stuff is confusing. I hope that every one who signed up as a follower is getting notification of each new post as is supposed to happen.

Apparently I was mistaken about the Raccoon that I caught. I had thought that he was a orphan, because of the amount of chicken that was eaten off the kills. It was almost nothing. There were no holes dug under the wire, no evidence of entry at all. It appeared that the little one had just squeezed through the wire. I was there fore surprised to find a small female Raccoon in a trap that I had put in their normal travel route around the fenced area of the pen. Hopefully that is all of them. I spent some time yesterday sprucing up the chicken run. The wire is quite secure, but it isn't buried wire, so digging in is a possibility.

Karen went with us this morning for our hunt. She bought a Ace bandage that was supposed to help stabilize her knee, but it was too tight and pinched, so she left it home.

We have been getting a bit of weather lately, and the mountain shows it. I will have to start taking the big camera along with us to better capture its changing face.

I checked the pond that I normally fly and while there were ducks on it, there were also cows in the fields surrounding it as well. We started driving in, and the cows assumed that we wanted them somewhere else, and started moving in front of us. I parked the car in the hopes that they would settle down and go on about their business. Everything was fine until we topped the hill above the pond. They all felt guilty and left the fields. Had I not already turned Jessie loose, I would have turned around and left. Jessie took a great pitch and we just walked up in sight of the ducks, and they flushed. Jessie turned on a Mallard and started down. The duck felt her coming and turned back towards the pond. She broke off her pursuit and tried another one, that one did the same thing and she never closed with it either. She picked her pitch back up and I walked down to the pond. A couple busted out the shallow end and she started for them, but was behind too much, she then turned an outside loop and chased another one, but it got into the lower pond. Jessie never came back and I was unsure if she had caught something or not. I left the ladies at the top of the hill and walked down to see what was going on.

By the time that I got down there she was back up in the air. I flushed the lower pond, and she made chases on the ducks that were flying, but for some reason did not follow through. She did this four times on separate flushes. Finally she chased a Mallard over a hill in what looked like a successful pursuit. I walked up to where I could see in time to see her land on a telephone pole. I crossed back over the fence and swung the lure. She came, grabbed the lure, and settled down to eat. When she finished eating the tidbit, she decided that she wasn't done playing and took off again, ignoring the food on my fist. I was disgusted and walked back to Karen and Tami. Jessie had landed on a hay stack, then left and landed on the ground. I swung the lure for a while, but she ignored me. I walked back to get the truck and the telemetry receiver.

When I returned I could see her sitting in the field, so I walked down there and she ignored me until I got to within 50 feet of her. I tossed the lure ( with a sliding weight on it ) in the air and she flew back and forth trying to snag the food on the lure. Finally she sat down on it, and I began to approach her. She jumped up and had managed to get the weight and line all in a ball in her feet and took off with the lure, flying down around the hay stack into another field. ( the lure has a 12 or 14 oz lead weight on a 8 foot line that can slide either up or down. Its purpose is to bounce along the ground either catching on the brush or hitting the ground breaking up the birds flight, thus deterring the bird from flying off with it.) She was sitting in the field rather winded from her efforts. I walked closer to her murmuring curse words of endearment. She again attempted to take off, but was too tired to do so. She began eating and when I got close to her jumped to the fist to get the meal that I had offered to her earlier. I had apparently been punished enough.

The Harris Hawks had gotten less than usual for a meal the last time that I had flown them because they just didn't seem to want to chase Jacks. Peg spent every effort to try to talk me into feeding her yesterday and was down about an ounce from what she had flown at before. Sue was down as well, and both were "sharp set" for a change. They were putting on a show today when ever we got a Jack up in front of them. They just would not quit the chase until the Jack managed to totally elude them either by hiding or making his escape when they couldn't see him. Sue and Peg were crashing the brush like crazy, putting in shots that evoked a lot of "wow" exclamations from both of us. Sue took a diving shot at one who only escaped by jumping over her as she hit the ground. It was like popcorn on a hot griddle. Karen was keeping close in the truck and could see better there than on foot. One of the girls ripped a hand full of hair out of one of the Jacks during a pursuit. It just couldn't last, they were trying too hard. Finally Sue, after both she and Peg had taken a couple of shots each, saw an opening and slammed into one that tried to hide.

My tidbits had spoiled, so I ripped off a Jack front leg for each as a reward. I really didn't want to feed them that big of a chunk of meat, but I knew that we had 15 or 20 minutes before it hit their stomach and dulled their enthusiasm for the hunt. We traveled on and began to bump Bunnies. The girls weren't at all reluctant to chase them. We had just gotten back to the road, when they began to relay a fleeing Bunny. He managed to evade three shots, but Sue put in a forth one that put an end to the chase and the day. I tore off a front leg and walked back to the truck to clean the Bunny and cut off their meal for the day. We fed them up when they finished their treats. We still finished earlier than normal even with Jessie screwing things up.