This weekend though, was all about the hawkin! It's my sister-in-laws birthday week, so the whole family headed down to Edmund, to crash with my brother, and his wife. I had been planning a hawking weekend for a long time, so I had called a lot of the friends, and we had good times on the agenda. Met up with Mitch, Rob, and Adam early on Saturday morning, and the Gyr/Barbary was up to bat first. Found a big group of ducks on a creek, and we had a nice stoop on some quackers. He made contact with one, but didn't manage to seal the deal. It was great to watch though, and the day was kicked off to a nice start.
Headed out to a field we hawked three or so years ago, and we pulled Adam's tail out for a session. I remember the first time I ever saw this field, I couldn't believe there would be rabbits in it. Up until that point, the only rabbit hawkin I had seen was in thick cover, high briars, and it was a race to the cover. This field is completely wide open, no perchs, and the rabbits just run and run. It blew my mind, that you could hawk rabbits without "working," and I was jealous to say the least :). Anyways, the rabbits were poppin like crazy, and we got some really nice flights out of his bird. His little male has some moves, and does wing overs on most slips. It was great fun to watch, and though we didn't put one in the bag, got to see some goodness. Next up was Mitch and he Gos, and she was ready to go! One slip, one catch, one happy falconer! It was pretty sweet to say the least. She shot off the fist like a feakin bat out of hell, and closed the gap on the rabbit in seconds. Missed on the first attempt, got back up and chased it again. He either snagged it from there, or else he crashed, got back up, and then connect...can't remember which it was. Either way though, it was sweet!
Rob and his Gos were up next, and we were treated to some pretty neat flights. It's pretty rediculous, just how fast those birds are, and if you blinked twice, you can miss the whole flight. Other times though, they extend out for long time, and those are the sweet ones. The rabbit he caught, was sort of in between....it was a pretty decent distance, and it went through a thinner portion of the field, so the whole flight could be seen.
Those feet moved so quickly, and wrapped that rabbit up in a heart beat. Pulled CJ out afterwards, but he just wanted to fly over to the telephone poles (which were on the edge of the field.....). We got one slip for him pretty quickly, and he came screaming in from a pretty good distance, but ended up getting evaded by the bunny. We decided to head to a field with some more trees, but didn't manage to get any slips. Headed back to my brother's house for a bit, and we dined on some BBQ, and did some chillen. Met up with Peter after that, and it was time to fly his Harris hawk. Little is his name, and he knows the rabbit hawkin game. Chased a few bunnies around pretty quickly, and then we dried up on slips for a bit. Decided to head back toward the cars to swap birds, and we got a slip right near the edge of the field. He chased it down, and caught it on the edge of a steep decline. When we got there, there was a Harris hawk tail sticking straight in the air, and Little was on his back, with his head down hill from his body. The rabbit was grasped tightly, and he was holding it up above him. As we approched, the rabbit gave one last kick, and they went rolling down the hill. Little landed on top this time, and held it there, until Peter could arrive for the assist. Pulled CJ out next, and he was flying at 970 grams. His focus wasn't all there, but he stayed around enough, and we got some good slips through some briars. Just as the sun was heading down, we ended up connecting, got to put one in the bag. Interestingly enough, his trade off was pretty bad! All things considered, it was still alright...he grabbed the lure, but then let it go for the rabbit. I presented it again, and he jumped off for the lure...only took about 20 seconds, but he is usually INSTANT, so it was just odd. I could have rushed him a little bit, which would explain the behavior, but I just don't really remember.
Met up with Mitch around 11 today, and we headed out looking for ducks. During the route, we went to a field that was JAM PACKED with red tails! I'm serious....you could look in the sky, and see 20 or 30 birds flying around. Then you could scan the few trees, and you would notice there was a bird in each one of them. Then, as you start looking around at the hills, you would realize that there were birds dotted everywhere, just sitting on the ground. We saw at least 10 harlans, and want to know what else was crazy? The majority of all the birds there, were passage. We are tossing around the idea of setting up a blind, and just pulling in tails all day long. I bet you could trap every color phase of tail there is, just in that one spot (in one day!). Met up with Rob after that, and we headed out to fly the Gos hawks. The wind had picked up today, and though we had some really good flights at bunnies, just didn't manage to put any in the bag. Flew CJ later, but only managed a single slip, and it happened when he was perching up, in the opposite direction. It was cool though, and we headed to a quail field, to give Rob's Gos another shot. Got to see some really neat tail chases, and it was the first time I got to watch a Gos chasing birds, from a really good vantage point. It got me all hot and bothered ;), and my desire to fly a coops, has been kicked up a notch! So that's what I have been up to, in a nut shell. Hope you all have been getting in some good hawkin too, and I will get back with you all later!
-D-
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