Jasper Update.

Well it has been 8 days and an update is due, since I am sure most of you are wondering how his readjustment is coming along.

It appears that he might just claim the place here as his "Territory". He has not been loath to help himself to the Sparrow population, and I have seen him many times with a Sparrow in his feet. He seems to like to eat twice a day. A Sparrow in the morning to start the day out right and a Mouse from my live trap in the evening. He seems to have little desire to take on the Starlings or Black birds that are helping themselves to my Chicken food. A smart move to my way of thinking. Both are dangerous without immediate help.

I would always see him in the morning if I got out early enough, gone through the middle of the day and then back again in the evening to hunt the Sparrows and Mice that live here. The weather has been moderate as far as the temps are concerned. The winds however have been howling, but that is not a problem with a Kestrel. He can handle the wind better than most of his prey species.

Tami finally got enough of a pause in the hectic schedule of the Ranch to come over to see him. I called her when he showed up, but it took her a bit to get her kid crew fed, and when she got here he was not to be seen. I had noticed the day before that when I had done some shooting, he showed up. I had been trying to eliminate some of the ground Squirrels that seem intent on carrying off as much of my Layer mash as they can, mouthful by mouthful. He has been hanging out on the fence line some times, but he was nowhere to be seen. I got out my 22 and began shooting at the Pigeons that were flying overhead. Nothing! Tami and Grace loaded up to leave and as soon as they started the car, I noticed him sitting on the gate post.

I checked my live trap, and found that the only Mouse in it had managed to kill himself by tripping the trap from the inside and getting caught in the mechanism. I gave it to Tami and she waved it calling him. He flew over to her, hovered over her hand, but did not land. He flew instead to the top of the Hanger. Tami called again and tossed it to the ground in front of her. He flew down, picked it up and flew to a post by the gate. We watched him, discussing how pleased that she was to see him. About that time he flew to the rock jack that anchors the fence, and cached it, flying back to the hanger.

I got a dead Starling that I was intending to give to the Harris Hawks, and gave it to Tami. She again waved it calling him, and he again hovered over her fist, almost landing. He flew to the front of the tractor, watching her. She again tossed it to the ground and he flew down to it. He immediately started trying to break in to the brains. I think I have mentioned a time or two that he loves the brains on the birds that he catches. After eating a while, he attempted to fly off with the Starling, but could not as it probably weighs as much as he does. We watched him eat until duty forced Tami to go home. I went out later to see what he had done with the Starling, but could not find it anywhere. I am not sure where or even how he managed to drag it off, but the only thing left was the remains of the head. I checked later to see if the Mouse was still cached in the rock jack and it was. The next morning when we went to town, it was gone, so we knew what he had for breakfast.

He is of course getting a bit more independent each day, and more used to feeding himself. I tried with three mice that I had caught yesterday to give him. He was content to watch them run to cover each time without making any attempt to catch them. He is not concerned with me or my presence. He only stays high enough that the dogs do not pose a problem to him. I am able to walk within a few feet of him, without him feeling the need to move.

Two days ago I noticed that I needed to spray some weeds that were beginning to come up in the runway, and as I approached the wind sock, I saw a bird fly to the front of the sock. I drove up a bit further to where I could see and there was Jasper sitting on a bar inside the wind sock. The mystery of where he has been spending the night is now solved. The little rascal is sitting inside, dry and out of sight each night. I went back to the house and called up plans for a Kestrel box on the computer. After I finished it I fastened it to the windsock pole. Hopefully he will begin using that and even better find a wandering female to nest there.

I had thought that he might wander off, but there is the faint possibility that he might stay here. The thought causes me great pleasure. I had first thought that the "Hack Tower" might provide a home for him, but two Barn Owls have moved into there, so the windsock is the next best.

I just finished my morning chores and found Jasper sitting on the corner of the Chicken pen. I closed the gate behind me and went to my Starling house trap that was currently occupied with two Starlings. I took one out, wrung its neck and tossed it out to the open area by where he had been sitting. Nothing! I took the other out and did the same, tossing it a bit further out. Still nothing. I looked around the corner and he was just sitting there watching them flop, but showing no interest at all. I picked up the dead birds to feed to the Harris's and went to my Mouse trap. (It is a repeating trap that can catch up to 10 or more mice at a time.) There were four of them in there, and they were quite hyperthermic, so I reached in and tossed one out in the open area in front of him. Nothing! I did so with the other three, and he still didn't move. At that point I was convinced that he was in no danger of starving, so I turned to go. I noticed him turn with a bit more interest, then he apparently decided that he might be able to hold another mouse or he decided to cache it.

All in all, it has worked out much better than I could have hoped for.