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.