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.