Another try for Jessie

Jessie finally caught her duck last night when it was almost dark, and didn't get to eat much before I picked her up. The Owls were hooting, and it was time for the day shift to retire. She was a bit low in weight last night, and only got enough Pigeon to bring her weight up a little bit. As they say "its an ill wind that blows nobody any good", so we had to go hunting again today. Oh well, its a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

First however Tami brought Jasper over for a Sparrow hunt here at the house. I am not sure what happened, but there were no Sparrows or Starlings here at either Chicken pen. Luckily I had a Starling that I had captured yesterday, and I decided to try something different this time. I put tape over the Starlings eyes, but did not pull any feathers.

We started walking out in the field in front of the hanger, and Jasper as is his habit took off to keep vigil above us. He finally got up in the air at a decent height, and I yelled and tossed the Starling. With their eyes closed, most birds have a tendency to fly high rather than a level "leave the area" flight. This one did just that, but Jasper was confused. ( I have noticed on all of his earlier flights at bagged game, that he never actually made any "air strikes", but chased them to the ground and then bound to them.) He didn't seem to know what to do, and stayed within a few feet of the Starling, but did not close with it. They rang up to about 250 feet or more, drifting down towards the creek of course. The Starling finally begin to get tired and started towards the ground. Luckily Tami and Isabel both have better eyes than I, and saw him finally grab the Starling just before they hit the ground over on the other side of the creek. Thankfully Starlings scream bloody murder when in the talons of a raptor, so they were able to follow the sounds of the assault in progress. I am not sure whether it was the different style of flight that threw him off, or if he is reluctant to close while in the air.

At 4PM I took Jessie over to the ranch to see if we could do a bit better than she did last night. As we walked out to release Jessie, I looked up to see a Starling flying for all it was worth about 400 feet up in the air. Right behind him and closing the gap was a Sharp shinned Hawk. I had already pulled Jessie's hood, and she watched the contest as avidly as Tami and I. It became obvious that the Sharpy was going to catch it. The Starling turned down and started stroking for all it was worth towards the cover of the Cattails. They disappeared at about the same time, but the conclusion was not clear to us. Jessie however took off after them, and the Sharpy vacated the area well in front of her. She lost interest and turned back towards us. I was sorry that I had not seen the flight before unhooding Jessie. If ever a hawk deserved its meal, that one surely did.

http://www.google.com/search?q=sharp+shinned+hawk&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ACjgTqX8N6iMigKKjoHgDg&ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1600&bih=797

Soon she was higher than she needed to be to ditch hawk, and we started towards the creek. Several ducks flushed and she couldn't get down faster than they could get back into the creek. We walked a bit further down and flushed some Mallards. She was in position, but decided to not hit the Mallard Drake. Not sure if it was because it was over the creek or because she once broke her leg hitting a Drake Mallard. Either way, she "whiffed" him. Another bunch got up and she knocked a Gadwall back into the ditch. By that time she had been flying and trying to get a duck over the ground for quite a while, so she flew to a fence post to rest a bit.

I walked down even with her and waited for her to rest a bit. Soon she took off again and we where back in business. I was trying to make my best speed down the creek to get in front of a bunch of ducks that had put in the creek. I wanted to pinch them in between Tami and I. I am getting too clumsy to walk and watch her, so I just do my best and she either is in position or not. Her choice. I flushed two Mallards in one of the curves, and while I thought there should be more, I didn't go back. I turned down the creek and soon heard Tami calling that she had caught one. The ducks that I thought should be there had tried to get past Tami, but Jessie smashed one into the ground, when it got too far out of the creek bed.

I unrolled my waders and crossed the creek to help her. She was having a pretty good fight with the duck, but she had it subdued by the time I got there. It was a Mallard hen. So I guess it was the creek that caused her to whiff the Drake. Normally she grabs the Mallards and smashes the Gadwalls and smaller ducks. A Mallard weighs more than Jessie does, and a wrong hit could injure her, but my guess is that she was pissed and wasn't going to let this crap go on any further.

After I helped her kill it, I clipped her up and tied her to my bag. I then offered her a Pigeon to eat, which she accepted. While she was eating I plucked the duck for a "wild duck dinner" for the ranch later this week. I generally don't eat what the Hawks catch, unless it is a Pheasant, but I found that smoked Duck is edible, and I wanted the folks at the ranch to taste something besides beef. A bonus for us is enjoying their company.

As usual, I forgot my camera. :-/