The World Didn't End, So I Went Hawking

I woke up December 22nd, realized that the world didn't come to an end (was there any doubt) and packed up the birds to enjoy the cold weather before everything freezes up.  The weather app read 18 degrees with a 1 mph wind out of the south.  Looked good to me so off we went in search of ducks. 

Found about 20 Gadwalls and a dozen or so Canvasbacks on the perfect pond for the day.  The dam wall is on the south side of this pond so the flush would be down wind.  All was going perfect until my bird reached about 500-600 feet in the air.  That gentle 1 mph south breeze, was quite a bit stronger up top.  Osprey was pumping for all she was worth to stay over the pond and to gain altitude. 

She muscled through it and ended up in the 800' foot range, but was having trouble holding that pitch.  When she worked her way crosswind, and a bit upwind, I pushed the ducks off the water.  While flushing the ducks I had to take my eyes off the falcon to avoid slipping down the steep dam wall and into the water.  I watched the ducks leave for what seemed like a long time, but after about a 7 second count I saw the ducks panic and turn back toward the water.  Osprey singled one out and just nicked it on the way down from her stoop.  That duck fell off balance, but regained its composure just before the ground and sprinted to the water.  The falcon kept up her momentum and continued full speed across the water after the rest of the flock.  As the ducks went over the shore on the far side of the pond, one turned broadside at the last moment in a desperate attempt to get to the water. 

Wrong move at the right time.  Osprey hit that duck full on in the side and drove it into the ground near the edge of the pond.  The force of the impact drove the duck through the crust of ice on top of the mud leaving a small crater and threw the falcon across the ground with a tumble as well.  The falcon found her bearings about 15' from the duck and snapped back to the KO'ed Gadwall.  This quick turn around proved to be unnecessary though as the duck was lying on its back, only one leg kicking the air.

It was still early in the morning and there was time to get a quick training flight with the Merlin.  Now that the the Hybrid is starting to do well consistently I've been able to put a little more time in trying to get this imprint jack rolling.

Just a flight to the lure today.

Not super psyched about he cold.

Merlin in flight.  Still flying like a baby, but constantly improving.

135 grams of imprint fury.

Finally a break from work for the holidays.  Hope the weather will corporate and I can get some serious hawkin' done.  My wife and I have also gotten a new camera for Christmas.  A large step up from the the Iphone or "point and shoot" that we've been used too.  I'm not sure how much I'll get to use it in the field but I'm pretty excited about the Canon T3i at the moment.

-RVZ

High Five

High Five, or four in this case.  Also the 4th duck caught

Great day to fly a falcon.  About 14 degrees and a baby blue sky with ducks on the pond.  Osprey took her sweet time leaving the glove this morning, but when she did, she went.  I watched her run out to the north in my binoculars and saw her begin her turn back.  I took my eyes off of her and headed down below the dam to get ready for the flush.  With my eyes on the sky I waited for her to come over in position.  She is not much for ringing.  Usually a long run out and then she comes back high.  I waited and waited but couldn't see her.  After about 6 or 7 minutes I decided that she had probably flown off to check out something else in the world.  I pulled out my receiver and clicked it on.  The signal was banging on near!  So back to the binoculars, and sure enough there she was dead over head and just barely visible to the naked eye.  Awesome!  "This is the pitch I've been waiting for."  

I flushed the ducks and.... nothing.  She wasn't stooping.  Several seconds went by before she finally committed. Almost a 90 degree stoop down and WHAP!  Only she didn't hit it solid.  It looked like she just clipped the outside of the wing.  The duck wobbled but didn't go down.  Osprey righted herself and began her pursuit.  The duck headed to the nearest stand of trees and the falcon when right in after her.  I heard a crash and bells, so I hurried my way on over.

Where's the falcon in this picture?

I had to use my receiver again but quickly found her in a dry creek bottom under a branch.  After a non-graceful trade off, she contently ate on the lure, and I got a chance to look over the Gadwall.  What I thought was a missed meaningful hit on the stoop, was actually a deep gash in the breast of the duck.  The duck probably tried to dodge to the side and the falcon got just enough foot on it to do the job.  That probably explains why the duck flew into the trees instead of around or over them.  

I've got to do a talk for the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission tomorrow so Osprey will get a well deserved day off.

She began her rest before we even left the field.

I also flew the Merlin free for the first time today too.  It went off without a hitch.  A great day on the prairie....

-RVZ  

Big to Small

The opportunity arose for me to acquire a jack Merlin from a friend of a friend recently.  I've been interested in flying a one of these guys for the past couple of years, but never really interested enough to try very hard to trap one.  This year I decided was going to be the year; two days later I was offered this little guy.  Guess I won't have to trap one after all. 

He is an imprint from this year and arrived with the usual imprint vices, screaming and mantling, but in a the two weeks I've had him we've lessened both of those problems to tolerable levels.  I'm also using a table top set-up with the bird that is working really well, an idea I swiped from Eric Edwards of Florida. See his Merlin hawking website:  http://merlinfalconry.com/

Another issue came from the shipping.  In transit every tail feather was broken about an inch from the tips.  An unfortunate but fixable problem. 

After making some calls around the country, I ended up locating a Merlin tail right here in Oklahoma from another falconer.  After about 40 mins of imping he was nearly good as new.  

Transporting him was the next challenge.  I've flown large falcons almost exclusively for the past 7 or 8 years and the only small falcon I've had was a Kestrel.  The setup I used with the Kestrel was adequate but left much to be desired.  After staring at my falcon cadge off and on for several days, it finally hit me to add a small shelf perch in the corner one of the sides.  It is attached with furniture screw anchors in the shelf and with winged machine screws through the back and side of the cadge.  All I have to do is take out the screws by hand and its ready to go for two larger birds when the need arises.

I'm still pretty deeply involved in getting the new Hybrid ready for the hunting season.  She has been going great to the kite for nearly two months now and has gone nearly 2000' on several occasions.  Today was the first time I bagged her.  She was a little slow to commit at first but poured on a little speed toward the end and nabbed the first pigeon she's ever seen in her life.  A good start to what should be an interesting year.   

-RVZ