Loose Ends....

I feel that I should tie up the loose end of flying the Harris' Hawks.  I flew them for several weeks and all was going well.  Both birds where putting on muscle and getting closer and closer to their first catch under my tutelage (not including the cat they grabbed and scared real good).  Then came January 25......

I was packing up for the day at work and getting the hawks ready to hit the field when my lovely wife started lighting up my cell phone.  My hands were full so I didn't get to answer the first time....or two, but I called her back when I was all packed up.  She was extremely excited on the other line as she exclaimed "It's a boy!"

Long ago, before we got even got married, we had decided that we wanted to have 2 kids to "replace ourselves in the world" and then adopt a third through DHS.  Well the time of "replacing ourselves" came and went with the birth of our second daughter in 2009.  So in the fall of 2010, we went through the long process of  getting approved through the state to adopt.  Long boring story short we were approved in the summer of 2011, but really had no realistic chance of adopting anywhere in the near future, or so we were led to believe.

Back to January 25th....

We got the call that they had a 2 year old boy for us and that we were chosen from over 200 families to be the parents of this great little kid.  Just a few weeks after that he moved in with us and has been here ever since.  Needless to say the rest of my falconry season was laid to rest.  I gave the Harris' Hawks back to my buddy who was glad to finish out the year flying them.

Since then I've mainly been spending as much time with my family as possible and working my butt off.  This time of year it's always something.  For instance, last week we got the report that an eagle nest had fallen down and the babies were still alive but on the ground.  We had already worked a full day, but duty called, and we made the hour and a half trek to the nest to build a nest platform and get the birds back in the tree.  All in a day's work I suppose.

On the falconry front I'm most likely going to start anew next year but I just haven't quite decided on what yet.  I'm sure time will tell this summer....

-RVZ

Best Pics of 2011-2012 in No Particular Order....

-RVZ & -D-

Fun With...*gulp...Harris' Hawks

Now I've gone and done it.  With the loss of one falcon and the minor illness of the other, I had lost all my drive for flying falcons the rest of this season.  But it has been many years since I have not had at least a bird to fly in the winter. So I approached another falconry friend of mine who has two male Harris' Hawks that he has not been flying this season due to a very busy work schedule.  Both birds have caught a few bunnies each as individuals but had not had much success hunting together, as the older bird was injured shortly after acquiring the second a season ago.  Both are healthy now and as much as I swore I had no interest in flying a cast of these social hawks.... I'm doing it now.

I've had them for only a couple of weeks at this point.  I got them down to weight and flying to me on creance as fast as I could and this morning hit the 'ol bunny field that I've neglected for the past 6 or 7 years.   Both birds flew well despite the light rain that was falling.  The bunnies didn't disappoint either as we had 5 slips in just less than 30 minutes.

The birds, although they didn't exactly work together, hunted very well for their first showing.  They even pulled fur from the first bunny that flushed.  They were quickly worn out from the multiple chases and coupled with the rain watering them down we had to keep the session short.  I ended up calling them to a rabbit drag from which they traded off nicely and we called it a day.  Short, sweet and to the point.

A week or two to get them in good shape and the bunnies better beware,  rabbit hawking has returned to Bartlesville.......

-RVZ