Jasper strikes again.

We had a cold front come in today, so it was cold
  ( not acclimated yet) and quite windy. Jasper was ready to go at 95 which is his best weight. He was also very upset and cranky all evening yesterday, and Tami says that he gets cranky when he doesn't catch anything. It might sound funny to you, but he was restless all night. In discussing last nights flights, I told her that sometimes, failure, especially when they have had plenty of chances can improve their determination to catch something when they next fly.

This time I gave my HD camera, that I use on the plane, to Karen to see if we could get any of his flight on video. Unfortunately there is no telephoto and he is just a spec with the naked eye, much less a wide angle fixed lens. As soon as he was taken out of the box, it was evident that today was another day, and he was serious. More so than I have ever seen him. As soon as he was out of the box, and he got his bearings, he took off after some Sparrows around the pigeon house. He had them hiding all over the place, with individuals squirting out at any opportunity.

Today was destined to be different. I had gone out this morning and used expanding foam to seal all but two escape routes out of the free range Chicken house. There are piles of Sparrows that spend all day in the house eating all the feed that they can stuff down. Before, they were all squirting out the roof line all around the building, and Jasper had one chance to score, and then we were out of Sparrows and chances. There is a large screen leaning up against the building on one end that shields the Sparrows from his attempts to catch them when they come out that side of the building.  I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but he would at least have more than one chance to make something happen.

After chasing the Sparrows that were hanging around the other Chicken pen, he went back to the Free range pen, and we started pushing them out. Reuben was blocking the other escape route, so the only way out was under Jasper. It was hectic and one of the most amusing "Rat hunts" that I have participated in for a long time. I was all for sticking him in the house with them, but he would not stay on Tami's fist long enough for me to get it done. He kept going to the top of the building, cranking up into a hover, back on the building, back up in the air. The wind was really howling, but he is made for the wind and I think had the advantage over the Sparrows. Finally one tried to make a break for freedom and he cut off its escape and forced it to try to make it to cover. That was the wrong move, Jasper is not afraid to go anywhere when he is in pursuit. When the Sparrow tried his maneuver, Jasper was about 75 feet in the air, and he dove to the ground after it down by the horse trailer. Tami found them right in the middle of a large Rabbit bush.

One of the things that cause the most grief, hunting smaller quarry, is when the raptor decides that he wants to carry his prey where you can't get to him. Tami has done an excellent job with him and he has never carried. One of the things that she does to insure that behavior, is that she has never taken food away from him. If he gets it in his feet, it is his. When his weight is right again, then we go flying. It has paid off big time for her. If you turn up the sound you can hear her telling me that he never tried to pull away or anything. He knows that it is his and no one will take it.

http://vimeo.com/31063575  will take you to the video. I made no effort to do anything other than cut it to length. No labels, no credits.

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After Jasper had all the Sparrow that he could hold, we brought Jessie out to get her exercise. The wind was whipping right along so I used the kite rather than the balloon. Today I put the lure up a hundred feet. I struck her hood and she looked around for a bit to get her bearings, then looked up confirming that the sound she was hearing was the kite string humming in the wind. She took to the wing, making one wide circle then coming back to try to tear the pigeon leg off the lure, lost it except for a foot full of feathers, tried again before the lure hit the ground, with the same result. Then landed on the lure, resigned to the fact that she was going to have to eat it in my presence. You see I have not been as successful in my handling as was Tami. She came to the fist after and finished her meal. I am bringing her weight up so that she can build some muscle. It is yet to be discovered how much of that she will allow before she starts taking advantage. She knows the game, but so far she is only playing because she has to. Hopefully she will get into the game, and we can do something about the Duck population.