I was reluctant at first but eventually gave in (got to at some point anyway). Having only one flight under her belt without the kite and only being served twice, I was not expecting much.
We found a real nice small pond with 10 or so ducks on it, "here goes nothing," and she was on the wing. The falcon made a small circle around the pond and me about 100' off the ground. Her wing beat indicated that she was not really sure what was going on. She kept on flying though, and eventually made a run out for the horizon. After a few minutes her wing beat changed and she really started to climb. Twice she started to come over and then turned and made another wide ring into the sky. On the third time I decided to go ahead and flush with her wide. A quick yell and the ducks were heading out.
The wide flush proved to be too much of an advantage for the ducks. The falcon tried her hardest to close the gap and just as she did the ducks put into the next pond a 1/2 a mile or so down the way. We could see her last minute stoop through our binoculars, then a pitch up, then off and away. We followed her telemetry signal as she made her way north, then northwest, then west, then southwest, but she was out of binocular range. Several times we thought about getting in the truck and heading her way. Just as I was about to head toward the vehicle the signal started getting stronger and she was coming back. Thirty seconds later I could see her humming along toward me ready to knock the lure out. All in all, she was in there air for maybe 15 minutes before she came back.
This flight was not a loss in my book. She learned to come over me if she wants a chance at catching a something, also to go even higher to have the angle, ducks do leave the water, and there is an easy way to still get fed if I just stay in the vicinity of that tall skinny guy. Off to a good start, really too early in her training to expect anything more.
-RVZ
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