March has been the windiest that we have experienced. The wind has been unrelenting, and hitting as high as 59 MPH. The average temps have been climbing steadily, and the migrants are returning to their summer homes. Killdeer are hunting worms in the lawn that is now beginning to green up. The Say's Phoebe has returned to claim his home under the back porch. While watching the Red Tail Hawk, that is determined to bring off a clutch of young from the telephone pole down by the creek, I saw a flock of Swallows in flight over the house. Of course I am not immune to the promise of spring either, as I was rototilling the garden. The daytime temps are in the 60's when the spring storms have made their way into Idaho and points East.
Since it is Spring, it is time for Jasper to have the freedom that we promised him when we first held him in our trembling sweaty fingers. He has held up his end of the bargain, and now it is our turn to honor our promise.
A pretty forlorn little guy!
I find it a bit amusing that many of our falconer acquaintances do not understand why we are releasing Jasper. I can only guess that their definition of falconry and the apprentice program is different than the one that Karen, Tami and I believe in.It is true that Falconry, and the goal of Falconry, is to hunt wild game with a raptor. It is not merely the possession of a hawk. Most people are content to have a hawk that will actually kill wild game. I require something more. I want to learn to understand better the processes that enable a raptor to hunt with a man.
Now the goal of apprenticeship is not the same as that of Falconry. In a nutshell it is to learn the art and the process required to train a raptor to be able to hunt with a man or in this case a woman. It is to learn the nuances of the raptor mind. It is to learn their language, so that they will be able to catch any species of raptor and guide it to a hunting partnership. One cannot do that by keeping the same raptor, no matter how good or successful it is, throughout the entire 2 year apprenticeship. Any sponsor who is content to give that kind of effort to his or her apprentice is cheating them of knowledge. One time, does not make you an expert, no matter the circumstances.
Sponsorship is basically "paying it forward". In most cases someone took the time and energy to impart to the current crop of falconers whatever knowledge that they had gleaned through out the years and raptors that they have handled. There is also a "protection" feature to it as well. It is the opportunity to instill a set of ethics that ensure that falconry is treated with the respect that it deserves and requires to exist in a society that is ever more "politically correct". It ensures that the raptors in our care are treated and cared for in a responsible manner. It is our duty to impart as much knowledge and understanding as they can in the two year period that the apprentice is bound to them. That is not done with one raptor. Tami will have handled and trained a minimum of three Kestrels by the end of her apprenticeship this coming November. She will be ready to go with confidence to the next stage of her falconry career. She will have learned weight control. She will have learned how to care for and keep in flying condition a raptor, and she will have an understanding of how to enter a raptor to wild game. She will also have learned about the quarry that she will pursue, how to set up the hunts, and the limitations of both her raptor and the game that it hunts. She will also be able to impart and improve on what I have been fortunate enough to teach her, and through her efforts be able to "pay forward" once again the joy of Falconry.
I basically had no sponsor. I met my first genuine Falconer on the day that my Kestrel, that I had purchased from a guy advertising in a LA newspaper, caught her first Sparrow. I didn't have long to learn from him as we soon moved to Oregon, but one of the things that he said that burned its way into my mind was that "Raptors are a gift from the Gods, and it was our duty to return them to the wild in as good or better shape than when we took them". Of course in those early days, captive bred raptors was only an unfulfilled dream. That has of course changed and the entire equation has changed with it, but it is still my pleasure to be able to release a raptor back to the wild from which it came. I admit that I try to instill that rather romantic notion in those that I have sponsored. In many ways my path was much more difficult, and my arrival to this point has been due to my hunger for understanding.
We have waited until this date to release Jasper. Tami has been fattening him for his readjustment to the wild. We are releasing him here at the house, since the resident Kestrel has returned to the ranch. If we turned him loose there, a fight would of course ensue, and that is his rightful territory. Jasper has done most of his hunting here at the house, and if he decides to stay, I can supplement his diet as he requires. I seriously doubt that he will need any help, as I have rarely seen a better hunting Kestrel than him. I also doubt that he will stay long. I do not know what pressures his intensifying hormonal levels will put on him. I am guessing that he will make his way to Rome and the area around the Owyhee that had been his home before we came along.
Just in case you are curious, I gave Tami the option of keeping him for the summer. Primarily to see what she would do. She did not disappoint me, when she said that she would miss him, but wanted him to have the opportunity to be free.
Its here, Jasper's first day of freedom!
After some false starts we managed to cut his Jesses, and he was sitting on the fist free. Finally he decided that he would make another try to get to the Chicken house so that he could hunt. His weight before Tami brought him over for release was 124 grams. That was about 15 grams more than when we caught him, so he was in no danger of starving to death any time soon.
He flew to his regular perch by the free chickens, and then chased a Sparrow over to the other pen. I went inside to see if there was any that I could flush. The Sparrows had all vacated the premises as soon as he had flashed up over the rock fence into sight. I was keeping an eye on him to see what he was doing, and after a bit, he started jumping up and down on the post, grabbing (footing) all over the top to the point that he fell off. He then went to the next post and was doing it there as well. Karen thought that something was the matter with him for a bit, because he was acting so strange. Tami and I could see him better and both of us were cracking up watching his joy at not having all that weight on his feet. I can't actually say that he "moon walked", but he threw almost every other hip hop move in there that he could think of.
We retired to the hanger to sit down and watch from there to see what he was going to do. He flew around a bit and spent at least a half an hour harassing the Black Birds that were landing on the Chicken pen. When he tired of that he flew to the free range chicken pen. Then he flew to the ground and started playing with a chicken feather. After a bit he jumped up on the water pan for the chickens. Then he jumped in the water and started bathing. Tami was amazed as he had never bathed the entire time that she had him. He would drink water off her finger, but refused a bath. The Pigeons thought that was a good idea and wanted in as well, but didn't trust him.
When I went out to pick up eggs and put things up for the night, he followed me to the captive pen. There was a Starling inside the pen, so I pinned it in the corner with Jasper's help and took it outside for him. I tossed it for him and he caught it on the ground. They were fighting pretty good, so I got down and went in to him. I broke the birds neck and backed off. He plucked on it a bit, then the next time I looked he had flown up to a near by fence post and was eating it.
I am not sure where he spent the night. I went out this morning to do my chores, looking for him all the time, but did not see him any where. As I was walking back to the house, he flew by me from the area of the free range Chickens carrying a Sparrow. He flew up on the power lines, then from there to a bit easier spot to eat his breakfast. We were all so very pleased with the little rascal that we could have burst without too much effort.
Karen and I had to go to Boise, and did not return until about 7PM. We flushed him off the drive way gate as we drove in. I went out to do my evening chores, but did not see him. I also noticed that the normal flock of Sparrows and Black birds were not in much evidence either. The thought crossed my mind that it would be real nice if he stayed. As I went to the free range pen, I checked an automatic mouse trap that I had set outside the door. There were 5 mice in it, so I called Josie and gave her one to play with. I thought I saw a flash across the Sun, but couldn't find anything. I was standing in the drive waiting for her to maul hers to death, when I saw Jasper sitting on the fence watching. I tried calling and waving my hat to him, but he ignored me. Finally I reached in and grabbed one of the Mice. I called his name and waved the mouse. Off he came and I tossed the Mouse. It stopped still and he couldn't find it. He flew up on the hanger roof, so I walked around and herded the Mouse towards him. As soon as he saw it run, he swooped down and snatched it up, flying back up on the roof to eat.
As long as he stays, I will make sure that he has food if he needs it. If he decided to stay here, I could save enough Chicken food from the hordes of Black birds that normally empty my feeders, to ship in food for him.
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