Sue

Well, Sue has finally arrived. Karen and I drove to Vale, Oregon to meet Marsha Flamm, the lady who bred her. Sue is one of her first breeding successes with Harris Hawks. She was visiting Joe Atkinson who lives in Vale, and was kind enough to bring her down to me. A great deal all the way around.

Sue is about 14 weeks old, and is very calm and easy to handle, which is one of the traits of young Harris Hawks.

I was checking to see if I could feel her keel, one of the ways that one can judge condition on a Hawk. She really does not have one that I could feel, so the little girl is pretty fat. Even though she is very malleable, she has not been handled very much at all, and is unsure what my intentions might be.

Peggy, who has almost finished her molt, is looking very mature, and grumpy in this picture. She will get over it, but right now she wants the kid to know who is the boss around here.

Sue is doing her best to not be a threat. She looks a lot smaller than Peggy, but in actuality, has a larger frame and will most likely fly at a heavier weight. I will be starting her training tomorrow. Mostly it will be a lot of handling, with very little food given in small amounts and very often. I will get her used to us and the dogs and to being carried on the fist.

Joe Atkinson flies and rehabilitates Eagles, which was the purpose of Marsha and Mark Hunt, her companions, visit to Oregon. Joe took us out to a hill top outside of Vale to fly a female Golden, Widow.

     Joe put a transmitter on her tail just in case.

The idea is to let her search out a thermal, get to a hunting height, then give her a lure to call her down. She is familiar with the game and will go up several times. Joe feeds her anywhere from two and half to three quail each session.

Joe has chosen this area because of the thermals and upslope winds that can give an Eagle a little help in getting height. Eagles do best in wind, the stronger, the more they like it. When she got her height she came over us waiting for Joe to throw the lure. The picture below is with a telephoto. She was quite a bit higher than the picture indicates.

Eagles, when they stoop do not fold up like a falcon. They basically fold their wings about halfway, drop their feet and come bombing down out of the sky. With their wings out a bit they can still control their angle and flight path. Even though it is slower than a falcon, it is still faster than their prey and very hard to avoid.