1st's

Yesterday was the first day of the duck season in eastern Oklahoma, my new Hybrid caught the first duck of the year, and it was this bird's first duck ever.  After coaxing from my apprentice and another falconer friend I decided to fly even though I wasn't expecting much.  It wasn't a text book flight or ideal flying conditions with high winds and upper 60's but worked out all the same.

After bumping a duck off the first pond we checked by accident, things were not looking good as we scouted the next 1/2 dozen ponds.  We finally did find a group of Mallards and Gadwalls on the last pond we checked.  I figured what the hell, if nothing else I'll have the bird flown and we can move on to other things.  So after checking telemetry, the bird was unhooded and he was off.  He began to climb as he has now been brainwashed to do from weeks of flying up 1500' feet to the bait underneath the kite.  The bird was several hundred yards down wind and climbing when the ducks flushed before we had even pressured them.  The falcon had climbed maybe 500', if I'm being generous, at this point and turned into the wind with a long drawn out stoop.  From our angle the bird didn't even appear to be losing altitude.  But it was obvious that he was when the ducks turned cross wind facing the sun.  In the final seconds the drawn out stoop turned into a full on stoop and a drake Gadwall was the target.  The impact resulted in a power-bind and both birds plummeted out of the sky.  With the warm weather, high winds, inexperienced bird, fairly large pond, ducks flushing with the falcon out of position, and low pitch I naturally thought that the flight was a bust, but my brain only lagged a little before I was sprinting across the dam wall of the pond to assist my bird with the largest thing he had ever caught.

Gyr/Peregrine Hybrids are mutant superfalcons, there is no way that should have ended in a catch.  All the same, duck #1 in the bag.  Off to a good start, but this is a baby bird and I foresee several days of a falcon stooping ducks that are still on the water.  Gotta start somewhere...