Jasper and Jessie

We went to town yesterday and as we drove up Tami was just Starting to fly Jasper. It was just before dark and the Sparrows are a bit reluctant to go into the pens to roost until the last minute. I had a Starling in the outside trap, and since the Sparrows were so sparse, after we emptied every building and pen, we went out into the field. Jasper followed and went into a hover over our heads. I had pulled 5 primaries from the Starling, but Jasper didn't see it until it had a good head of steam, and was leaving the area with alacrity. He turned and was pressing it hard when they went out of sight of us over the hill. We ran over to the crest of the hill and could see nothing. Tami thought she could hear the Starling screaming occasionally off in the distance.  There was a cow that was staring at a spot on the ground. On a hunch she went down the hill, forded the creek and finally found him all the way up against the hillside across the creek. The flight covered somewhere around 350 to 400 yards. The little guy doesn't have any quit in him at all.

The wind woke me up during the night, howling for all it was worth. The Harris's were down to weight, but flying them in a 24 MPH  wind is just a waste. I waited until 4 PM but the wind was not going to quit, so I fed the girls some Jack Rabbit that will hold them over until the wind quits. Jessie however is a different story. She is built for the wind and enjoys it. She doesn't fly as high, but she will be right there in spite of the wind.

We had no idea if there were Ducks on the ditch or not, but I needed to fly her, and had food in my bag and on the lure if things didn't work out. Unknown to us Rosy and David had ridden down the ditch, flushing the ducks as they went.

All the kids came out to help flush, and we lined up in position. I turned Jessie loose and we waited for her to get her play out of her system, and settle down in position to take advantage of any ducks that I might flush. When she indicated that she was ready, we rushed the ditch, which of course was empty. Jessie showed no signs of wanting to stop, so we ran up the ditch hoping that we could find something further up. After about 75 to 100 yards I flushed four ducks that rose up into the air, but Jessie was too close, so they slammed back down into the water. My only choice was to keep running and hope for the best. The Ducks of course waited and took off when she was a bit out of position. She tried, but the wind had blown her far enough out of position that they had a chance to make it down past all the kids before Jessie could do more than scare the crap out of them.  I kept up the best pace that I could, and finally flushed a single Gadwall. I yelled to let her know that there was another one in the air. She flashed by me and grabbed him about 20 feet in the air, but also about 20 feet from a Barb wire fence. I could see her hesitating trying to decide if she could get him across the fence or not. She wisely decided to dump down before the fence. They hit the ground just in front of the fence, but their momentum took them through the fence anyway. I waded the creek to help (really to secure her with her leash) and got her clipped up. I then traded her a Pigeon in exchange for the Duck.


As is usual I forgot to take a camera along with me. All the horses in the field that she had caught the Duck in, came over to see what was happening. The calves in the adjoining field also came over to stare. The horses bolted when she opened her wings, leaving her to eat her Pigeon in solitude. We stood on the bank freezing while she dined at her leisure. It was worth it.


Jessie shares with Jasper an intelligent desire to catch something. By intelligent I mean that both make things happen and position themselves so as to take advantage of any opportunity. If it doesn't work out the first time, they are willing to keep flying and trying. Jessie will fly until she is tired, then sit down somewhere. When she is rested, she will get back up in the air and resume the hunt until she does catch something. It is rare that I have to give up and swing the lure to call her back. As long as there is game, she is willing. She is a demanding mistress, requiring that I treat her with respect, never taking short cuts, but she is worth it.

Yogi strikes again.

The girls were back down to hunting weight today, and Tami and Isabel came over to help with the hunting. It is so nice to have them to help. I could not do it without Tami and her lovely girls.

Again it didn't take too long in the field before Puddy grabbed a big Jack by the butt and he also scraped her off in the base of a Sage bush. If it had been just a straight pull, she would have held on, but again there was a low hanging large limb that she couldn't get through. I think she is going to have to approach it like a bareback rider and grab on and lay flat until its over. Yogi was right there, but she didn't even try to interfere, just sat on a bush and watched the whole thing. Not sure whether to mark it up to manners, or revenge. Again it took a bit of an edge off Puddy's aggression. Oh, she still tried, and she had some more close calls with the rabbits escaping by mere inches, but she didn't get her feet on any more. This Jack however left a lot of his coat behind. There was fur still floating in the air when we got there, and a double handful of fur on the ground.

Just as I began to despair, we jumped a close Jack. Puddy tried hard to get him, and succeeded in turning him. Yogi caught him as he turned. He didn't get very far at all, in fact his escape try could be measured in inches.  This all happened within 15 feet of us, and by the time I got there she had him only by the head.

 This girl has some of the biggest hooks this side of an Eagle, and the power to run them through bones.

Surprisingly Puddy did not rush into the fray, but stopped on the ground about 4 feet in front of Yogi and stayed there. I gave Tami a chunk of meat that I had prepared for just such an occasion, and Puddy gladly went to her fist to eat it. Maybe the girl is getting some manners? Nah! too early.

In the short time that it took to give the meat to Tami, Yogi had killed the Jack by herself. That is a blessing that I appreciate very much. Puddy has never done that with any of the Jacks that she has caught. She has killed some of the bunnies, but mostly I have to do it myself.

I pulled off a front leg for Yogi and picked her up with it. Isabel put the Jack in my bag for me. Yogi finished her front leg and left the bare bones and foot on my glove. When Puddy finally finished her chunk she came calling and flying to me, landing on my arm. She saw the bones of the front leg and had to grab that and take it to a bush to make sure there wasn't anything else on it to eat. I guess her manners didn't improve all that much.

We made our way back to the car, and Tami and Isabel took the girls after another Jack that Yogi had seen while I cleaned the dead Jack and prepared the rest of their meal. It still took us three hours on the hunt.

On a separate note, before I left for hunting, I injected Jessie's Duck that she caught yesterday with a mixture of Salt, Sugar, Worcestershire Sauce and water and put it in the refrigerator. When I got back from hunting, I put it in my Bradly Smoker and cooked it to 160 degrees. Karen had Turkey sandwiches for dinner. I tried to get her to taste it, but she refused. I am forced to admit that I ate every bit of it with genuine pleasure. The dogs cleaned up the bones and all that was left was a greasy spot. A big one! I may have to eat more.

Jessie and Jasper

Karen and I took Jessie to Appendix Point to try for a Duck today. I was hoping that the pond would be thawed and there would be Ducks on it. About half of it was thawed and did have some Ducks, so I turned Jessie loose.

She was quite anxious to go and wasted no time getting up and over the pond. I flushed the Ducks and we both lost her in the flock that came up off the water. Ducks were milling every where and finally out of the flock I saw her with a Duck in her talons trying mightily to carry it to dry land. She was in front of the cliffs on the other side, and it became obvious to both of us that she wasn't going to make it. She dropped him into the pond and flew over to our side to land on the cliff behind us.

I called the dogs to me and ducked down behind the Sage to give the Ducks a chance to land again. Several of them did land and I looked up to see Jessie getting in position again. I waited until she was in as good a position as she could get, and flushed again. Again I lost her, and then there she was with another Duck in her feet stroking for the bank. This time it was closer and she landed in some really thick Rabbit Brush.

I went to look for her, but could not find her anywhere. I made three trips back and forth through it, and still could not find her. Karen came up with the truck and I requested the Telemetry receiver to cut down on the search. Josie was in front of me and quickly went on point and with her help I could see her.

 Of course the little darling wasn't going to do anything to give her position away.

 The Duck (Drake Gadwall) appeared to be dead, so I gave her a Pigeon to eat, and clipped her up.

 I tied her to my vest and let her get on with her meal while I picked the Duck. I decided that I was going to try smoking this Duck in my smoker to see if my memory of how bad Ducks taste in correct. So while she ate, I plucked.

Tami called when we got home and inquired as to whether 99 grams might be too much to fly Jasper. He caught a Sparrow at 98 grams the last time. I told her that if his attitude was right to bring him over. If he doesn't chase, it is no big deal.

Tami and Isabel came over and we turned him loose. He wasted no time in going to the outside pen and taking a stand. We rousted one out of the pen, and Jasper chased him to and under the Pigeon house, then a skirmish on the rock fence. He lost the Sparrow in the rocks and went to the captive Chicken pen. I had a couple of Starlings in my trap, and I was hurrying to get them out of sight before he crawled through the wire to see if he could get one of them. I was worrying for nothing as he made a dive off the top of the pen and nailed a Sparrow on the back rock wall.

Tami picked him up and we retired to the shop to let him eat where we could be warm.

As I mentioned earlier in the year, weight is real important in getting a hawk to pay attention and hunt. However as I also pointed out attitude is just as much a driver as hunger. We had to keep this little guy at 92 grams when we started. He killed today with no fooling around at 99 grams. 7 grams to him is like several ounces to a bird like Jessie. When you love your job, it isn't work!

Yogi finally scores, Yea!!!!

The wind finally blew itself out, or at least into Wyoming where it belongs, and today was nice for a change. Puddy was down a bit in weight, and Yogi was lighter than she has ever been, at 1170 grams. Tami, Barbara , T.J. and Reuben came over to help me fly the girls.

Yogi has not caught anything yet, and the last time I had her out, she didn't stay with us, wandering off by herself to hunt. Therefore the weight loss. I was pretty sure that Puddy was going to catch a Jack pretty quickly.

We had not been in the field for more than 10 minutes when she grabbed a big Jack by the butt that waited too long to run. The only problem was that there was a low hanging chunk of Sage that the Jack slipped under, but Puddy didn't. So the hold was a short one. The Jack didn't get away with all he had started out with though. He left a trail of fur for about 8 feet.

 Not to mention a chunk in raggedy Ann's feet. The Jack jerked loose by jamming her into the large branch of Sage. You can see that she is hanging her left wing quite a bit. I was concerned that she might have damaged it, but she worked out of it in about a half hour. It took her about that long to resume crashing the brush.

 Yogi was giving it all she had, but she is still a bit cautious about crashing into the brush. She made several really close chases where the Jack was just inches in front of her talons. We had covered quite a bit of ground with both chasing Jacks and Bunnies. Pud almost caught both Quail and Pheasants, but they both somehow gave her the slip on the ground. Perhaps someday she will be able to counteract their defensive maneuvers, but not today.

The Jacks were hiding today, and we saw just about as many behind us as in front. There were Eagle kills all over the place. Finally we hit a hot spot that had several Jacks trying to hide. Both birds were working together and trying very hard to make it happen. I walked over a little hump and Yogi who was riding on my perch flashed off behind me, slamming into a clump of Sage about 8 feet behind me. I was estatic to hear a Jack screaming for all he was worth. Of course before I could make two steps Puddy also slammed into the same bush and Jack. I have been concerned about the outcome of this kind of situation since I got Yogi.

Yogi is a "Lady", but Puddy is a juvenile brat. The Jacks that Puddy has caught have caused no confrontation, because Yogi just stands back watching. I jumped into the fray as soon as I could just in case not all the talons were in the Jack. However this time they were both holding the Jack by the head. There was no place on that Jacks head that didn't have a talon stuck in it. I broke the Sage apart to drag them both out where I could get to them. The Jack as you can imagine was kicking as hard as he could.

 I put my glove over the rabbits head to make sure that there was no problems between the girls.

 The only way that I could kill the Jack was to stop its heart, so I put my work glove on the keep Puddy from making any more holes in my hand, and reached over her and put my thumb on his heart. Thankfully I was able to put him out of his misery fairly quickly.

 Now the next step is to get the birds off the rabbit. That means that I have to pull my bloody glove off  with my teeth so that I can get a chunk of meat to offer as an enticement to leave the now still rabbit. They won't let go as long as it is still alive and moving.

 They actually did quite well and were even seeing things beak to beak before it was all over.

 As I said Yogi is a lady and she was quite willing to accept a chunk of Jack, leaving Puddy in sole possession. If you will notice she just walked right over top of her. Puds head is sticking out of her wing.

 Pud is a lot harder to get to let go. I was finally able to get her to accept a front leg, but she still would not let go of the rabbits head. After what seemed like forever, I was able to get her to hold the front leg that I had given her with both feet. T.J. cleaned the Jack for me bringing both rear legs for the girls to finish their meals.

I was fortunate to get Tami to feed Yogi for me, leaving me with the bad mannered but lighter hawk to carry back to the car.

As you can see from Tami's smile she was pretty proud of her. I can assure you that mine was just as big. The first one is the hardest. It may take a while, but soon she will be catching as many as Pud, maybe more. She has perfected the location of hiding prey, and when she chases a rabbit, and will not come back, it is because she knows where he is hiding. When her flying ability matches her knowledge, she will indeed be formidable.

Tami has been rooting for Yogi along with me. The terrain is completely different than what she is used to dealing with and the adaptation takes a while. I am pretty sure that her diet in the wild was a lot smaller and probably a lot slower quarry than what we have to offer. I am also quite aware that she just wasn't cutting it where she was, and was starving to death. While she is much older than Puddy, she is nowhere near an accomplished hunter. She is on her way to remedy that situation.

My thanks to Barbara, (Tami's Mother) for the use of her photographs. I had as usual forgotten my camera. Tami used her mother's camera and took 63 photo's of the two birds on the rabbit. I think I mentioned that Tami likes Yogi.

Jasper never fails to please!

Tami brought Jasper over around 4 PM to see if we could catch anything. His weight was up to 98, but his attitude was just right. He was in the mood for murder, as usual. When we started his weight had to be 92 grams. It has slowly risen to as high as today's weight of 98. It cannot be because of the colder weather, because he lives inside. It is because of his mindset. He wants to hunt!

The Sparrows were not in the outside chicken house. They have learned to delay their bedtime until it is almost dark. However they cannot resist the constant food supply in the captive Chickens pen. He started that way and flushed a Starling in front of him. He chased it down towards the creek, and back. As he neared the pen, he went into a hover over the pens. Tami and I both ran into the area to try to flush something to chase. He took off after a Sparrow in front of the loafing shed, and put it into cover in the rock fence there. Tami climbed over the fence and went to see if she could flush it for him. The Sparrow kept to cover and she found nothing. Jasper went to the top of the fence, so I tried to flush Sparrows out of the back of the loafing shed. I was apparently successful, and one flashed by him and around the corner with him in hot pursuit.

I started around the end to get inside of the pen to flush. Before I could get far, I could hear a Sparrow screaming. As I got in the pen, I could see him against the wire of the pen. The Sparrows think that they may be able to escape him by running into the rocks. He has become an expert spelunker and can run through the nooks and crannies as fast, scratch that, apparently faster than they can. I scrambled for my camera, but Tami was coming up on the outside and he turned and squirmed through the wire to the outside. The Sparrow was still complaining, so he paused long enough to break its neck. Tami stuck her fist out, and he flew to her with the Sparrow to eat. This time I was prepared and I captured it on video.
http://vimeo.com/32690780

Thanksgiving

While the weather was warm for Thanksgiving, the wind, as has been the norm lately, was howling. Karen and I were invited to Tami's for Thanksgiving dinner, so we were free to entertain ourselves for most of the day. We attempted to fly Pud and Yogi here at the house. The Harris's have so much trouble fighting the wind, that I really didn't want to invest that much fuel on a lost cause, by driving to Arock.

The Jacks here at the house have been paying attention and had changed their routine enough that I was having trouble getting anything up for the girls to chase. It didn't take long and Yogi decided that she would default to what had worked for her in the past, and she went off to chase the Antelope Ground Squirrels that live along the fence line.

I sent Karen to get her and put her up, since I wanted to discourage that kind of behavior. Puddy decided that Yogi might be getting more than she was, so she abandoned me for Karen. Yogi up to that time had been trying to catch Chipmunks. Puddy decided that one of the Chickens in the captive pen just might be edible. The whole thing deteriorated from there.

The wind picked up to a reported 24 MPH out of the S SW. Jessie was at a weight that she should be successful, so I took her over to Tami's at 3 PM. Tami had been keeping an eye out for Ducks on the ditch in the field behind her house, and there were a few there, so we formed a battle plan to get them to fly over the ground. Her brother and a guest from Italy were both young enough to be fleet of foot, so they got the part of the plan that required running.

We lined up by the fence and I turned Jessie loose. She was swept away by the wind, and she spent about 10 minutes playing low over the fields with the wind. She is designed for the wind, but even for her this stuff was a bit strong, and she showed it by not getting much higher than 100 feet, and dipping down to just over the ground, then back up. She finally satisfied her desire to fly and came back to us, making a circle over the ditch and when she came back around at about 100 feet, I yelled and off we went. The ducks flushed and tried to go up wind, but TJ, Tami's brother cut them off and they swung away from the ditch. I was watching the ducks get higher and higher, with no sign of Jessie anywhere. Then out of the corner of my eye I could see her streaking just over the reeds after them. She had dived down close to the ground using her speed to come up in under the flock. She rocketed up from ground level and forced a Drake Gadwall to try to climb to escape her attack. He had no chance and she bound to him at about 75 feet in the air. She turned over and glided clear of the large Cattails.

We all waded across the creek and walked to where she was with the duck. I didn't want to go through with the 5 day wait for her to come down in weight after stripping all the fat from this duck, so I offered her a Pigeon to eat instead. She accepted the exchange, and I secured her to my vest, and stepped back to allow her to eat.

 David, Reuben, Tami, TJ and Grace kept us company while Jessie finished her meal. I talked TJ into taking the Duck, so they retired to pluck it out of sight of Jessie.

After she finished her Pigeon, I took her home and changed out of my swamp clothes. I returned back to Tami's for a great Thanksgiving meal. As is normal there was way too much food, that was way too good to not eat.

Jasper #13

Tami and Isabel came over with Jasper at 3 PM. It was still a bit windy, but warm. We are getting the Jet Stream coming up from Ca. and the temps were around 50 degrees. My girls are too heavy to hunt, so Jasper was all we had for entertainment.

Jasper first tried the outside chicken pen, but there were no Sparrows in there at all. He then went to the captive pen, but there seemed to be no Sparrows there either. Tami went into the loafing Shed and I went into the pen to see if we could find something. Jasper was crawling around the rock walls of the loafing shed, and I was looking in the rock fence to see if any were hiding in there. Jasper had managed to get into the shed by accessing a gap between the rocks and the roof. I found a Sparrow hiding in the rock fence outside of the chicken pen. I rousted him out, and he flew to the shed. Jasper saw him and the chase was on. The Sparrow tried to get into cover in the wall again, but didn't make it. Jasper caught him right in front of me.

 He has caught the Sparrow, you can see that his wings are still spread. He killed the Sparrow and then got himself gathered up again.

 He drug the Sparrow up on the rock and totally ignoring me, he was working his way around to where he could see Tami. I was standing within three feet of him inside the pen.

 He didn't like the spot that he was in while he was on the rock, so her crawled out further. Bobbing his head watching Tami. She asked if she should try to call him, and I told her to give it a try.

As soon as she held out her fist, he again flew to her fist to eat, carrying the Sparrow with him.

Yogi, and Jasper

When I put the girls out this morning, Yogi was the only one that was in flying condition. I called Tami to see what her schedule was going to be like, as it was Jasper's day to hunt. They were going to be weaning calves today, so she was going to try to hunt after they were done. I decided to go hunting with Yogi early. By the time I got back they should be ready to vaccinate the calves, so I would go over to help, as Rosie was on the coast for Thanksgiving, and they were one person short. I am not that much help, but every little bit helps sometimes.

It was 16 degrees this morning but by 10 AM, it was up to the low 20's and Yogi and I took off for the field. I had wanted to take Yogi out by herself to perhaps shoot a Jack for her, so that she would understand that they were possible for her, and good to eat. Puddy had caught two in her presence, but she had not actually gotten her feet on one yet. With Puddy around that wasn't likely either.

When we got into the field she chased some Jacks for a while, then we got into an area with lots of Bunnies, and she chased those with vigor, but quit chasing the Jacks. I finally got a chance at a Jack, and hit him high in the abdomen. She had been off chasing a Bunny, so I had to go get her on the fist. I approached the wounded Jack. She saw him, but of course he wasn't acting right, so she was hesitant. Then the Jack took off, and she decided that he was worth chasing, and she soon caught him. He was still fresh enough that he gave her a good fight. She was very excited.

 With her big feet and talons, it took her no time at all to kill the rabbit.

 After it was dead, I gave her a front leg, and cleaned the rabbit while she ate. After she finished the leg I had given her, I gave her the heart and liver as well as a back leg. She was quite full by the time she finished. I put her in her box and we drove home. Upon our arrival I was glad to see that she has quit getting car sick. I put her up and went over to the ranch to do what I could with the calves.

 My contribution is to put a fence post in behind the calves as they run them into the chute to wait their turn in the squeeze chute for their vaccinations.

After Tami put her horse up, and got the kids squared away, she came over with Jasper for his evening flight. We turned him loose and were soon chasing Sparrows back and forth from the Chicken pen to the loafing shed. We had run all the Sparrows out of the Chicken pens, and Tami went into the loafing shed to run the ones out of there that had taken refuge there. She busted one, and Jasper was in hot pursuit. They both hit the wire of the Chicken pen. Karen was trying to find where Jasper was, when we heard the scream of a Sparrow. Tami jumped over the fence and found him in the nasty weeds with the Sparrow.

 She was telling us that he was jumpy, and acting as though he was going to fly with the Sparrow. She asked me what to do, and I of course told her that it was her bird, her judgement. I gave her my camera to take a few pictures for me.

 He worked his way out of the weeds to this rock, and was sitting looking at her. She was standing about 10 feet from him, worrying that she was going to crowd him into "carrying." ( The term meaning that the Raptor flies off with its prey to eat it where you can't get to it, one of the worst habits in a hunting hawk.)

He kept looking at her, so she offered her fist with a chunk of breast on it, and the little sucker did in fact carry. The only thing is, that he carried it to her fist to eat it. I of course busted out laughing, her worst fears were confirmed, and all her worries came to nothing.

She has adopted my habit of letting a bird eat all it wants when it catches something. This little guy has never had anything taken from it. If he catches it, he eats it. He is very fond of brains, she holds the beak so that he can get to the parts that he likes. In his mind, there is no better, safer place to eat other than her fist.

I have flown some of the best falcons and hawks that this world has to offer. I would be proud to be able to to claim him as my own. He is as good or better than most of the fancier members of his species. Most falconers, whether they be newby's or very experienced, overlook the Kestrel as a "Mouse Hawk", and a beginners bird. Most new apprentices choose the bigger, thus more desirable Red Tail Hawk, as a more fitting hawk to start their falconry career. That in itself is fine, if they have the situation that will favor the hunting style that these birds require. Most apprentices do not have that situation.  We do not have the area here that would allow the Red Tail to have an even chance to catch something. The Kestrel however can be hunted in this high Desert, or in the center of the city. It is as much of a challenge to catch a Sparrow with a Kestrel as it is to catch a Duck with a Peregrine. A Starling rates right up there as a prize that is as much a match for the Kestrel as a Sage Grouse for a hybrid. The only thing that an apprentice has to prove is that they are capable of training a hawk to hunt, and keep it alive and in good condition, not how big the quarry. They all count as one!

Puddy - #12

The weather finally moderated enough to take the girls out to play. All of the girls. Jessie finally came close enough to her flying weight to lull me into thinking that I needed to take her along as well. We had a snow squall or two yesterday and the wind was howling again this morning, but moderated enough to make the trip worth making. Tami and Grace came over at noon, so we loaded up and headed out.

Thankfully there was no snow at Arock, but the ponds were almost frozen over. The only thing keeping the ice at bay was the few ducks that kept the water moving a bit. The Harris's are like sponges so snow just doesn't work for them.

There was still enough wind to cause the girls some discomfort as the Jacks always run into the wind. Both Puddy and Yogi were anxious to chase, and finally when a Jack jumped close to me and Puddy, she wasted no time burning up his butt. He tried to turn inside of her, but she made the cut and the last I saw before they went out of sight around a bunch of Sage, was her long leg reaching out to touch him. There was a short pause and the scream that satisfies came back to us.

Yogi was also in the air, but she landed clear of the two on the ground. By the time that I got there, Pud had him by the head with the Jack's legs straddling hers, and pushing with all he had. Even though I carried a camera, I vapor locked and didn't take a picture. After a bit of stupidity on my part all of us got untangled, and I pulled off a front leg for Yogi. She had come up behind us, waiting to see what was going to happen. I tossed her the leg and she settled down to eat it in her normal dainty manner. The next chore was to get Puddy to take the other one that I was offering her and leave me the Jack to clean. I finally got her off by sticking the leg in her face again and again until she decided to go off and eat it.

 Notice how neat and calm Yogi is, and then there is Miss manners with her food

Perhaps you can see her tail. It is a wreck. Harris Hawks are known for their "rubber feathers". Pud never closes her tail, no matter what she is doing. It is always opened like a Dancers fan. She then sits on it jamming the feathers into what ever surface she is sitting on. I imped the first feather she broke, but within two days she had snapped it again. I have not wasted any more feathers on her. Perhaps by next year she will protect her tail a bit better.

She and the rabbit had left a trail of fur for about 15 feet. I know that the first grab was in the Jack's butt, She somehow walked up his back while they were tumbling around and when the dust cleared, she had him by the head. One of her grabs had torn his ear almost all the way off. Her feet and reaction is more Goshawk than Harris. Those things are flying all over the place. I had thought when I got Yogi that she would be able to teach Pud how to hunt, it appears that the teacher will be Pud.

After they ate their rewards, we went on, intending to hunt them as long as they were eager. We had not gone far when Yogi, sitting on my perch, took off after a close Jack and made a great smash after him. It was so close that I went to look. She had torn a big patch of fur out of his butt. They tried pretty hard, but they had lost enough edge that we gave up and offered them the rest of their meals and went to try our luck with Jessie.

There were a few Ducks on a pond that I normally hunt in that area. Jessie was 900 and a few grams, but it had been four days, so I thought I would give her a try. We turned her loose and even though there were Ducks on the pond she had her mind on flying. It was a really nice day for flying, if you are a hawk, I did convince her to go over the pond and allowed the ducks to fly by just our visible presence. They circled around, trying to stay over the water. She gave it a couple of tries and even tipped one up, but he didn't make the ground. She lost interest and started circling up, looking for lift.

She flew up and out far enough that I could not see her, circling with the Ravens and Redtails. Tami kept her in view with the bino's. I waved a pigeon and swung the lure for a while, but it was evident that she wasn't coming back until she was done. After about 15 minutes she started back and was going to land on the hillside to rest. I decided to call her to the lure, and she came willingly enough. Still a great day!

Winter seems to be here

I had wanted to fly both Jessie and the girls today, but Jessie is still coming down from all the duck fat that she ate. She weighed in at 933 grams. She will fly at that weight after she has been hunting for a while, but the wind was howling at 29 MPH with higher gusts. Didn't need that.  The Harris's could not handle that much wind, so Karen and I went out to feed them on the fist in the shop. While we were in there a snow squall blew up from the West and had the ground covered in a matter of minutes. So when we were done, I went back in the house, threw another log on the fire, got out my "blanky" and pulled out a book.

Tami called around 4 PM and asked if I was up to hunting with Jasper. The wind had finally died, and it wasn't snowing at the time, so I embraced a break in the boredom. By the time that she got here, we had another snow squall marching through. After a short wait, it quit snowing again.

Jasper after surveying his chances, took off for the free range pen, and flushed a Sparrow of his own and they were off. It evaded him in the rock fence, so the Starlings in the Chicken pen captured his attention. They were filtering out through the gaps in the wire in all directions. I went into the pen to force them to the back end, but he seemed to have forgotten his last flight and stayed on top of the pen. Finally we were down to one Starling, and he chased it towards the creek. It soon outdistanced him, so he went up to the power lines. He sat for just a few seconds and came off the wire and sat on a post by the Pigeon house trap door. Tami observed that there were a lot of Starlings inside the Pigeon pen. I said that I would go flush them out, and started in that direction.

Jasper was not in the mood to wait, and dived through the open trap, before I could do more than say, "Oh Shit" the sounds of a screaming Starling came wafting out of the house. I ran up to render assistance because there were about 50 Pigeons in there as well. It was at first hard to see him since there were so many Pigeons in there milling about. Then when I did see him, I had to take a picture, since I had thought to bring a camera this time. The white Pigeon to the left side of the picture was thinking about getting in on the action, so I couldn't waste much time.

 I have had large falcons refuse to fly into a flock of Ducks or even Pigeons because they were afraid  of being mobbed. Apparently this little warrior doesn't think that way at all. The front of the pen is wire, so there was no concealing the fact that there was a whole mob of Pigeons in there. The only ones surprised was the Starling and the Pigeons.

After he killed it we retired to the relative warmth of the unheated hanger to let him eat his meal.

Full day of hunting

Tami agreed to come over today around noon to hunt Jasper and help me with Pud and Yogi. I wanted to take the girls out to one of my regular fields and further their relationship in the field.

We decided it would be best if we flew Jasper so that he could be eating while we were hunting the girls. He is very slow when he eats, and that would cut down on the time that she was gone.

Tami turned him loose and he checked the yard to see where the birds were hanging out. He finally flew to the A frame, and I went back to their normal escape hatch to block. One of them busted out right in front of him and the chase was on. It took refuge in the loafing shed. Tami went to it and I went to the chicken house, where the flight would most likely end up. As I neared the chicken pen, Jasper came whizzing out after the Sparrow, and landed on top of the pen. There were Sparrows all along the back rock wall, and I went to flush. When I got in the pen there was a Starling still in the pen. He made a flight to the front then the back and started squeezing out the end where they normally get out. As he was clearing the pen, Jasper met him and they tumbled down into the weeds with the Starling screaming bloody murder. Tami and I got there at about the same time, ( she had much further to go) and she went to help him. I was worried about the Starling's formidible beak, but Jasper had his beak inoperable since he had a talon in his mouth. Tami went to help him and I ran ( figuratively of course ) for my camera.

 This little guy really cracks me up. There is no fear, nor hesitation in him at all. He is all business when you take him out of the box. You will notice in this and the following photo's that he has hold of Tami's finger. He was still in killing mode and her finger moved. He has it in a "death grip". I had to pry his talons out of her finger. She mentioned that it didn't hurt nearly as much as when Puddy grabbed her while I was gone.

We opened up the brain for him and waited until he had the breast opened, then sat him on Jessie's inside perch to finish his meal while we hunted the girls.

It was Yogi's first time in a giant hood and I must say that she was an unwilling participant. She rattled around a bit at first. She seemed OK when we got to the field, and sat on a Tee perch while we started. We jumped a Bunnie the first few yards from the car and both birds were after it. Yogi after her first try at it went to the top of a telephone pole that was close by. We jumped it again and Pud took a shot at it, then Yogi came sailing off the pole and put in a really great shot of her own. The Bunny had seen enough and retired to his hole until things got a little quieter.

The whole trip was like that. The girls tried hard, but the closest we got was a foot full of fur that might have included the tail. We chased Bunny after Bunny, as well as Jacks, Pheasant, ( that one was really close) and Quail for 3 full hours. Yogi showed some insight into a bit more advanced hunting techniques than Pud. Pud even started copying some of them. Once Yogi gets into shape and gets used to the differences of the terrain that she is hunting in, things will get serious. They worked their butts off, and as the evening got a bit later the Voles started coming out. Yogi's first official kill was a nice Vole. ("Timber Tiger" ) She is quite fastidious when she eats. Pud wanted to help, but I kept her at bay with the Tee Perch.

My guilt in keeping Tami out so long finally kicked into overdrive, and we went back to the car. Pud has seen that routine before and flew off so that I couldn't put her up. Yogi followed suit, so I called Pud to a chunk of Jack. I then gave her to Tami to feed while I called Yogi. I gave Yogi the bottom part of a Jack's hind leg. There is no way to hold one in your fist, so she soon had control of it. She felt that it would be much nicer to eat it on the ground. I insisted that she eat it on the fist. Finally after two tries to go to the ground, she dropped it. I bent over to get it, and Yogi growled the way that pissed Harris's do, and bit me on the ear. It was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. She then ate her food while I laughed all the way to the car. Tami said that it was scraped a bit, but I didn't bleed. If she had wanted to hurt me she would have used her feet.

I will take her out again tomorrow to see if we can get a Jack in her feet. They did really well together. They shared the same perch a few times, and learned to watch the other for clues when game was afoot. When they learn to use the other to set up shots at game, things will start happening.

Jessie's turn

While Jessie was ready to hunt yesterday, I wasn't. Karen was not feeling well today, so I loaded the dogs and Jessie into the truck to see if the week long layoff was going to be a problem.

I drove back to appendix point to see if we could catch something there. The pond is quite big and not at all easy to catch a duck on, but it is relatively close. Only ten miles across the Desert.  The only redeeming feature is that it is remote enough that the ducks will often set back down if pressed by the hawk, or even if the hawk is off somewhere else chasing other ducks. Its a long way to the next water, so the incentive is there for them to return. Normally Jessie will fly them as long as she can and then set down on the cliffs to rest, then get up and go again.

After I parked and checked the pond, which was full of ducks, I got both her and the dogs ready with transmitters and collars. I turned Jessie loose and she started climbing. I didn't expect much from her as it was only her third flight of the year, and she had been idle for at least a week. However Jessie apparently didn't share my thoughts and continued to position herself to her best advantage. I flushed the ducks and they busted out the end of the pond. Jessie slashed through them sending one of their number tumbling out of the sky. Unfortunately it was at the edge of the water. She went back up as the ducks were milling around, making sure that they were over the water for as long as they could. The dogs and I were in plain sight, but we were the least of the ducks problems, and thus ignored. Jessie continued to circle trying to position herself to her best advantage. I again flushed the ducks, and she slashed another one out of the air, but this time into the inlet part of the pond. She continued to circle the pond, but the ducks would not fly off the water with her so close. Finally she sat on the top of the cliff to watch. The ducks continued to circle and many of them splashed back into the pond.

Jessie surprised me by again taking to the air after sitting for only about 3 minutes. She again got into position, and I flushed them again. This time she held her strike because they would not go over the land. Finally when she was out of position, a bunch of them made their break down the valley, and Jessie flew after them in a very determined manner. She didn't show up for the longest time, and I started back to the truck for the telemetry to track her down.

I looked up and saw her making her way back to the pond again. This time the ducks were stacked up against the end of the pond. When I flushed she wasted no time in slashing a drake Gadwall out of the sky and into the short stuff at the end of the pond. She was really honking on and her outward run took her really high. I worried that she wouldn't be able to get back on him before he got back into the water. No worries, apparently he didn't know which end was up, and she had him with no problem.

Betsey always stays with Jessie, giving her protection from any other predators. I cannot tell you how great that is. It is nothing that I have taught her, she just does it.

I held the Duck while she dispatched it, clipping one of her jesses and sat back to let her eat all she wanted.

 Betsy always stays right there with her while she eats.

Jessie likes Ducks, but only the fat that they carry. She plucked and ate for at least a half an hour. I have decided this year that I will not hurry her. She knows what she wants and it is Duck Butter. Nothing else will do.

After she ate for at least 35 minutes stripping the duck, I carried her back to the truck.

 This is the extent of her feeding. If she got any red duck meat in her crop, I can almost believe that it was by mistake.

 When we got back to the house, I filled her bath water. The outside temps were 47 degrees, but Duck is dry stuff, and she is quite fastidious. When she saw me walking towards her with the bucket of water, she began pumping her wings in anticipation. She plopped into the water as soon as I quit pouring.

I recently had a conversation with a man concerning how often I fly my birds, and whether I allow them to eat what they catch. I gave a quick answer, but didn't have time to explain fully what I believe and think.  It is my habit to allow the hawk to eat all it wants, when they catch something. Now to be sure it will take a while for them to lose enough weight that they are "sharp set" and willing to again hunt.

There are two ways to fly a hawk that basically comes down to the "Stockholm Syndrome", and the "nice guy" routine. In the first, the food is strictly controlled, only giving enough to be sharp the next day at hunting time. In the latter the bird is allowed to eat large amounts and only flown when their weight comes back into hunting range again.


I have chosen the "nice guy" approach for several reasons. The first is that I am physically unable to hunt Jessie on Ducks and then take two Harris Hawks out for several hours beating the brush every day. Even if I could, the amount of rabbits that I would accrue, would cause wastage. There is also the effect that would occur to the habitat that I hunt, not to mention the cost of the required fuel to do so. I also feel that my approach is the one chosen by the raptor whether it be wild or captive. I don't know about you, but two bites of Cheese cake and leaving the rest is not an idea that I would embrace willingly. A hawk in "high" condition will not put forth the effort that is generally required to catch either a scared Duck or Rabbit. However a hawk that has fasted for a day is quite willing to fly as hard as it has to in pursuit of something that it knows that it will be able to eat all it wants.

The second reason is that game when pressed continuously will either change their habits, or leave the area entirely. That goes for Ducks as well as Rabbits. I need to have game in plentiful amounts when I hunt and I try very hard to not fly the same ponds or fields more than twice a week if possible. Even with me being the only falconer in the area, that is a big challenge. When the ponds freeze up things really get tough, I am limited to one pond that doesn't freeze and a creek. Hit them too hard and you will soon find that the only ones there are you and the hawk. 

Now having said all that, I admit that Jessie is spoiled, and I did it. In the last years I have fed her up, but I have not just sat back and allowed her to have her way with the prey. What I did was pick her up as soon as I could and hold her while she ate what I gave her. She has also fought me because of that. It is a fact that I have only marginal patience for standing around, waiting for a hawk to eat. Primarily because I have never had the time to stand around. Now that I am retired, there is little reason or incentive to be anywhere other than where I stand at the time. If I am clumsy in snapping her jesses up, she will not hesitate to defend her quarry.

This year as an experiment I am only helping her kill it, snapping her up while she is distracted, then stepping back and letting her eat as she wishes, only picking her up when she has a full crop. So far she is responding positively, and is much easier to handle. We will see.

Even with only flying Jessie today, I still spent 4 hours in the field.