My regular computer apparently has a bad hard drive, so I am having to use the laptop and I do not do that well with it, so pictures are not available for his hunt.
The second was just too windy and nasty to even go outside. I fed the girls enough to get them by until today in the hopes that the wind would abate just a bit.
Today, Saturday, was cold as could be, but the wind has finally died down enough to hunt the Harris Hawks. First Tami came over with Jasper for his hunt. Unfortunately the Sparrows are becoming much smarter and were scarce as could be. After we exhausted all our options it was time to work on his "waiting on" flight, so I got a Starling from my reserve and not wanting another 350 yard flight and swim, I pulled 6 primaries from its right wing. When we started walking towards the open field, Jasper took to the wing and started climbing in front of us. As he reached about 100 feet, I yelled and tossed the Starling. He wasted no time in capturing it. If you will notice from the video that he is smart about making his grab on the Starling. Make no mistake, a Starling is well equipped to defend itself, and weighs just about as much as Jasper himself does. When we arrived, he had the Starling by the throat with both feet, thus keeping that Sharp beak well away from him. Tami helped him with holding and killing the Starling.
http://vimeo.com/33091144 Here is a video of the flight.
After he had a bit of a chance to eat, and I had a chance to get my stuff together to take the girls out for a long overdue hunt. Tami put Jasper on one of the inside perches to finish his meal, and I picked up the girls and weighed them. Pud was 850 grams and Yogi was 1160, so both were just right in my opinion for the hunt. I wanted Puddy to be a bit on the high side in the hopes that she would not be so hungry that she would be reckless and possibly get one or the other hurt.
We had just gotten into the field when a Jack jumped up in front of Tami and Pud. Pud burned him down in about 20 feet. Yogi had also taken off in pursuit at the same time, but climbed to about 25 feet or more, did a wing over and slammed into the Jack as well. She hit it hard enough that I could clearly hear the strike. A two pound mace with talons will give you a honest comparison. This time I was a bit worried, but while there was a terrific pile up, neither bird had anything in its feet other than Jack Rabbit.
We left Puddy under a bush eating her prize and went on with Yogi, who had by this time swallowed the entire large chunk of meat that she had been given. We found a couple of flights, but nothing that was in our favor. I begin to think about where Puddy might have gotten to, so we circled around. She came up off the ground and flew to me. I think she was a bit confused that no one was around.
We were finding that the rabbits had abandoned that section of the Sage due to our hunting pressure, so we crossed the fence into another field that hadn't been hunted for quite some time. It was obvious that Pud had lost a bit of her edge, but Yogi was still in there as energetic as she had started.
Finally after Yogi and Pud had made two more Jack chases that had not worked out, we started a Bunny. Yogi was the first, and when the Bunny hid, Yogi began clawing for altitude and Pud made a shot that moved him from his hiding place. I did the best that I could, but I just ain't what I used to be. It avoided both birds, but Yogi was right on its butt when it took refuge in the rock ledge that was nearby. I saw where it went to cover. So I kept my eye on the spot. As I drew near, it changed what was obviously an insecure spot and tried for another one that had it undercover, but not out of my sight. Yogi flew to my perch, and was looking hard into the rocks and I could tell that she had picked him out. There was just a patch of fur, but it was enough for her to see. Each time I hunt with her, I am amazed at her ability to see hiding rabbits.
I asked Tami with Pud to come in above and block that avenue of escape. The Bunny bolted, but Yogi was ready and off the fist at his first move. She caught him just as he cleared the rocks, and Puddy slammed into him as well.
Today was a real break through. heretofore we had caught one and then fed both birds up. We had tried to hunt some more, but had no success due to the fact that the birds were not trying as hard as they were before. this time I had a smaller reward for the one who had not caught the rabbit, thus she was still on her game. It takes a bit for the food to reach the stomach, and since there was less, she didn't feel as satisfied and still wanted to catch another. It is important that they don't quit hunting just because someone tags a rabbit. Today went a long way towards that knowledge.
There were several subtle changes in both birds today, that please me very much. Pud had lost several Jacks because Yogi had not helped her. The reason for that reticence was that Yogi was unsure if Pud was safe to help. You have to remember that both birds carry lethal weapons on both feet, and care and respect are needed in dealing with either one. Today they both acted without reserve, and both were respectful of the other. There was trust today, and that is the most important part of it. Because of that trust, both birds were working with each other for the real first time. When one missed or the Jack hid, the other would wait for it to bolt again. For the first time today I saw them make four (two each) different shots at the same rabbit by taking advantage of what the other one did. It is coming together.
Yogi is beginning to make more of an effort to stay with us, because she realizes that were we are where it happens. She has never required tidbits to come to us, she just hasn't come that far as often as I would like. She isn't where she needs to be, but is better.
Yogi for the first time got into her box without being forced to. She had not liked the box, and only got in there when she was forced to. Today she bated towards the box.
When we got home, Tami picked up Jasper and went home, while I picked up Jessie and got her ready to hunt over at Tami's.
We couldn't see any evidence of ducks in front of her house, so we went up the creek on the other side of the barn. I turned her loose and she decided that it was a really nice day to fly, and she did, only coming back to us when she was tired and her pitch had lowered to about 150 feet. We rushed an empty ditch. We started down the ditch and when she was out of position, flushed several Mallards. There was another bunch of them a bit further down that waited until she was far out of position to fly away. By this time she was out of gas, and sat on a post until I called her to the lure. Oh well, it wouldn't do to catch something every time I went out. Just isn't supposed to happen. It was still a very good day. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon.
I had thought that I was done for the evening, but the driveway alarm has changed my mind. Yesterday we had a bit of a mystery. When it is cold, I generally do not do morning chores until it warms up a bit. That is generally around 9:30 to 10 AM. I turned the dogs out, and when I went back in Betsy had a Jack Rabbit foot that she was chewing on. It was not frozen, so it was fresh. Karen said that she saw her in the garden. I went over to look, and found a pile of rabbit hair up against the garden wall, mush as though a hawk had caught it and hid to eat it as they are wont to do. The mystery was that there was no tracks other than that probably made by Betsy, and there was no blood. I could only surmise that a Coyote had gotten the Jack and carried the rest of the body off. Still didn't make sense however.
Then the driveway alarm which is set on the end of the hanger, went off at 9:15 PM. There should be nothing out there. I thought it might be one of the neighbors cows, so I went out to look with the spot light. We left the dogs in the house. When I got out there was no cow, but there was a Bob Cat hiding under the truck. It was a small half grown one, but that explains the mystery.
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