Peggy- Sue together at last!

There really hasn't been much progress in Sue catching Rabbits, hence nothing to write about. She is much more interested in Pheasants than Rabbits although she does chase them, just not hard enough to score. I decided that I would take Peggy out of the moult to help motivate her. As soon as I made that decision, she dropped her last primary. I vacillated for a while and finally decided that it was time whether she was ready or not.

Tami and Peggy in her new look for the year.

I should back up a bit and give you more background since I last wrote about Sue. Tami Stoddart, our neighbor at the ranch across the way has decided that she wants to be a falconer. Both she and her sister, Tara, went with Sue and I on one of our hunts, and they both have decided to take up an apprenticeship to falconry. Tara  lives in Portland so I can't help her, but Tami and her kids have been faithfully tagging along helping to flush rabbits for Sue. Tami normally carries her latest son Thayen in a back pack on our trips, but today Isabel, her oldest daughter carried him and the camera.

I was in a bit of a pickle with the two Harris hawks in getting them started hunting together. Karen is still gimpy on her knee after the operation, so that left me with a problem. Tami to the rescue. Sue is as standoffish as Jessie, but luckily Peg doesn't have that problem. I slowly reduced Peg to the point that she thought she was starving, but in reality she was still 3/4 of an ounce heavier than she flew all last year.

Karen had a Dr's appointment today, so this evening when we got back I cut up most of a rabbit for tidbits and lure garnish, put the birds in the giant hoods and off we went to Tami's house. We went to the back side of the ranch to see what we could find.

I had not even called Peg to the fist since last January. I didn't think that she would cause a problem, but I wanted to carry them for a while to get Peg's mind on the right track. Sue started getting focused, so I decided to take her leash off and let her fly if she wanted to. It didn't take long and a Jack started off with Sue in hot pursuit. Peg tried to join in, but of course couldn't. I decided that I was being silly, so we turned both birds loose and got out the Tee perches. Peg didn't hesitate at all, and flew to the perch with no problem. She of course is terribly out of shape, but the try was there.

Sue for the first time got a bit of height to try to see where the Rabbits put in. If she continues, she will be successful.

You should always let some one hold your weapon when crossing a fence. It could go off and hurt something.

Sue tried a lot harder today, probably because of Peg's presence. Peg also got in a couple of shots at the Jacks, and Sue seemed to be quite ready to take advantage of having another bird in the field. She was a bit pushy, and kind of rude, but it never got out of hand. They both rode on one Tee Perch together for a while, so it will work out. Peg behaved really well, and would return to Tami's Tee Perch with no problem at all. We did our best, staying until almost dark.

Our next outing will be on Wed. to my regular field.