Jasper Scores!

Tami had brought Jasper and all the kids over to the house. A friend, Boyd Young from Utah had come to visit with John Hauck and I yesterday. He had agreed to take the kids flying in his Kolb. I cannot take passengers, and things had not worked out in the past to give them a flight. Grace especially wanted to fly, just to see what it was like, so she was the first to go.

 Then Isabel got her chance to go up.

 I believe Isabel was scooting back in the seat a bit on this landing. There of course was no problem, but the first landing in an aircraft with that much visibility can be a bit exciting. Reuben, when he got out of the plane from his flight had a grin that stayed most of the day, as did the rest of the family. 

 Finally Tami got her chance to see the ranch from the air. Boyd was generous enough to take all the kids for a flight. He enjoyed the grins of pleasure that the kids had, the hugs went a long way to make a memorable day for all of us.

After the flights were over, it was time for Jasper to get to do a bit of flying. Heretofore Jasper had ignored Sparrows. We had been giving him only Black Birds because he was less likely to carry them, and after something that size he should be willing to take anything. It apparently doesn't work that way however, so I had a Sparrow on the fishing pole for him. There was no wind and he wasn't that anxious to fly as he was quite a bit heavier than his normal flying weight. Finally I just flipped the Sparrow out and yelled for him. He wasted no time in grabbing it and killing it. He was a bit flighty, but with the line we kept him in the area. We let him eat the rest of the Sparrow. I felt that we would probably have to give him several flights at Sparrows and then he would probably consider them as fair game as well.

Tami brought Jasper over this evening weighing 94.5 and chomping at the bit to go flying. I only had one live Sparrow, and we were concerned that he was going to carry if he did kill a Sparrow, so I went out to the Black Bird trap, and brought two of them to use for bags.

Tami turned him loose, and he flew to the Motor home antenna. We intended to go out of the driveway to see if we could get some action on the various birds hiding in the Sage. As we drew even with the Motor Home, Jasper flashed off the antenna and made a quick turn by the little utility trailer.  He was after a Sparrow. There was a smattering of feathers floating down to the ground as he took a stand on the side of the trailer. I told Tami to go around behind the trailer to flush the Sparrow. The Sparrow could not stand the pressure and tried to make a break for it. Jasper however was a bit faster and he caught his first wild head underneath the rear tires of the Motor home. He was pretty excited and looking for escape routes, so I told Tami to crawl in front of the tires to see if she could get him before he decided to book. She had to part the weeds with her hands, but was able to give him a tidbit and then secure the Sparrow. I asked Karen to get a camera while I returned the Black birds to the trap.

I was lucky that Karen had told Tami to stay there with Jasper, so I was in time to get a picture of Tami's best feature. I won't repeat what she said to me. It is sometimes surprising to me how some women don't appreciate our point of view.

 Tami crawled out of the weeds, still carrying a few, but with one of the biggest grins that I have seen for a while.

 Jasper of course wasted no time in digging into his favorite part.

This little guy is quite a warrior, and about as gutsy as they come. Every thing that has occurred with him from the time of his capture to his handling to this point has been without mistakes. Tami, as well as Jasper have progressed at a pace that cannot be less than very satisfying.

Sponsoring an apprentice can be a demanding process. The process takes two years. It can be fun or it can be very, very disappointing. In my 48 years of falconry, I have sponsored quite a few people, some were so transitory that they left little impression. At least three of them were so dismal that I never finished their apprentice period. All but three of them eventually decided that falconry was too demanding to continue. Of the remaining three, two are female. Last year I had decided that I was done with sponsoring apprentices. The cost had gotten a bit high in emotional disappointment. I am glad that Tami changed my mind. Like Boyd's statement regarding payment in grins in exchange for the flights. The joy and pride that Tami has shown with Jasper, is payment in full.