Free, Free at last!

Sue flew free tonight. It has been 14 days since I picked her up from Marsha. Had we not had some misunderstandings about who was the boss, she would have flown free a couple of days ago. I think we finally have that worked out. While I have not tried to hurry her along,  she has set a pretty good pace for me to keep up with.

My general method of starting a hawk or falcon is to get it used to me and people movement. ( Manning ) I teach it that I am the source of food, and if you want it, you had best take advantage of it when offered. It will not be there if they delay, and it only gets farther away at each refusal. ( I hate to chase a bird, and they are smart enough to train you if you are not careful. ) Once the bird is coming to the fist as soon as it is offered, I then introduce it to the lure. When they respond immediately to the lure, it is time to teach them to follow me. Once they learn to keep up with me when I am walking,  live game is introduced to the lesson. After that it is hunting as often as they can be ready to do so. Of course the outline here is tailored for a Harris Hawk. Falcons require different training after flying free.

Two days ago, Sue and I had our last misunderstanding as I tried to pick her up to take her out of the shop to put her in the weathering area. That evening she was reluctant to come to me in the weathering area for food. I gave her a good chance to come to me, but she turned her back and I left, coming back 30 minutes later to try again. The result was the same, so I left her outside without feeding her. (That is a good indication of whether a bird is ready to hunt. any hesitation, and they don't go) The next evening, she came to the fist and we went for a bit longer walk than usual down the runway and back to the yard for training. She did well, flying several times to the fist for tidbits. I threw the lure in front of her with a rabbit leg on it. She ate the rest of her meal on the lure. I was able to pick her up on the fist with some tidbits with no problem. Last night after Karen and I clipped a tail mount on her center deck feather for a radio, was the same routine only I tossed the lure away from her, she went after it with enthusiasm.

Karen is attending an Oregon Falconry meeting, so the dogs and I are "batching" it, therefore there are no pictures of this event.

Today has been the hottest day so far, so I waited until the sun went down to pick her up for her lesson. She was anxious to see me, and came to the fist with little hesitation. I found her weight to be down a bit more than I had thought, ( 930 with a 12 gram transmitter ). Actually that wasn't a bad thing, its just that I think some of her aggression is due to a lower weight than she wants to be. She was nice however and respectful while I got her ready to fly. We went out and did a shortened walk just around the hanger while I took her swivel off. When we got by the fence, she flew to it so that I could call her to the fist. I maintained about 15 feet between us, and she ran down the fence screaming quietly as she did so. When she could go no further, she flew the rest of the way to me. I kept walking and put her on a stone barbecue and kept walking, her flight was about 20 feet this time. I walked on and sat her on the front of my drift boat, and at about 20 feet stuck my fist up, but kept walking. She came so fast that she didn't think that she could land, ( she is fast and flies harder than Peg ever did.) so she circled around and landed on the top of the hanger. That put her about 25 yards away and in jeopardy. A King bird has a nest on the support for the transformer that supplies power for the house. Both parents were zipping her, making it very uncomfortable to sit on the roof. She flew down but again was going too fast to land and went back for some more bobbing and weaving. I kept walking and she finally flew to me, controlling her flight enough that she could land. I walked on around the hanger and back to the grass. When I got close enough, I threw the lure to the grass and she was on it with great enthusiasm.  After she finished the food on the lure, I had to coax her to me by throwing tidbits in the grass between us. She has about convinced herself that there is more meat on that lure than can be seen without close examination. Now that I have her convinced of its magic, I will not use it again unless there is an emergency or I am forced by circumstance to use it to get her back. Most hawks and accipiters regard a lure the same as they do a kill. The point of this is that it can be overdone.

I am very pleased with her, and eagerly await her introduction to the rabbits that seem to be very much on the upswing this year. She is very flashy, and I expect great things from her.