Update: 01 Nov 08: This season I am unable to fly a bird due to work requirements, so I am looking forward to hearing about your falconry stories. If you have a link to your falconry site and would like to have it added into my links page please let me know via email.

I hope all of you have a great hunting season

Update: 01 Nov 07: Each year trapping experiences are different for each falconer. The last few years when I would go trapping for kestrels I would find plenty of Red-Tailed Hawks, or when I was trapping for Red-Tailed hawks I would find Kestrels, but this year was much different. After the California department was so helpful in rushing my permit to me I was out trapping. I expected it to take me at least three days to trap the bird I wanted. Lucky for me I was wrong.

I had been checking for kestrels everywhere I went and I had others looking for me incase I decided I had the time to train a kestrel and got the permit in time. After receiving a copy of the permit on 31 Oct I was out on 01 November 2007. I headed out with one mouse and my trap that was last noosed in 2005. I went to the location I had seen 2 male kestrels and 1 female and figured that would be my best chance at getting the passage male American Kestrel I was looking for this year. Upon my arrival to I didnt see either of the males I had seen previously but the female was on the line. The kestrels were so tame I was able to jog directly under the kestrel drop the trap as passed under and continue jogging away. I was only 30 yards away when I looked back to the kestrel on the trap already. I slowed to see if the bird was caught and as soon as she gave the signal I switched directions and was sprinting towards her. In the few seconds it would have taken me to get to her she slipped out of the noose and flew away. That was the first kestrel to every get noosed and get off my tube shaped BC. As I approach the trap with my head down feeling defeated, I began to worry I might have just wasted $250 on an out of state trapping permit.

As I picked up my trap I looked across the field and noticed a fluffed feather ball on the top of a pole on the other side of the field. I figured I didnt want a female and I couldnt see the bird on the pole from the road so I just walked the trap to a good location. I set it about 50 yards from the little male sitting on the pole and headed towards my truck. As I walked I continued to check behind on the bird but nothin g was happening. I finally got to my truck and he was still puffed up. I decided to move the truck to a location closer. After maneuvering my truck around and about 15 minutes I could see the pole with no bird now but couldnt see the trap. I jumped out and again was sprinting toward the trap location. The bird saw me coming and started to scream, which was great because I was able to locate the trap immediately. I slowed my sprint to careful walk as approached. I immediately knew I was keeping this big footed young male and picked up the trap and bird. He was only trapped with one noose around his tarsus and I carried them back to truck before removing him. I un-noosed him put a hood on and weighed him, grand total of 118.4.

The next day I was able to go trapping with Conor, Dave Cherrys apprentice and we trapped two more kestrels a male and female. He decided to keep the female.

Update: 25 Nov 07: 6:45 96.5g Today is a day I am very glad I have telemetry on Diego El Fuego (DEF). I went to my good area for starlings and he was looking hard so I made the slip. He went out strong and over all the birds down the alley and under and awning where some sparrows were. I had to work to get him back because he kept coming down but waving off before landing on the fist. I finally got him back and on the way home I found another flock of starlings. Again he was looking and I drove by a few times trying to peak his interest before slipping him. When I made the slip he went out and up to the power lines. I tried to call him to the fist but got no response. Then like normal a kestrel came flying in and the chase was on.

They flew around screaming, in and out of the palm trees and then a Red-Tailed hawk showed up and they both drifted towards the airport. After about 5 minutes of following them, only one was up still flying around and screaming. I walked the outer boundary with a sparrow on a string and got no response from the one I could still see. I found a hole in the fence and walked the woodline. Then there were two kestrels flying again and I was able to identify the one with jesses and followed him into the trees. He disappeared low into the bushes and after walking around a bit I found him on a low branch so I walked up to him and offered a starling leg on the fist. He did nothing. I slowly moved towards him and as soon as I touched his chest for him to step up he took off again. The wild bird was back on his tail and this time they chased out of sight.

I ran back out and over to my truck to get my receiver before going any further on the airport. Lucky for me the airport was closed and the security must have been on a long break. I followed the signal to the other side of the airport as inconspicuous as possible. Once on the other side I did a little triangulation with the gain down and I knew I was with in 20 yards. Unfortunately the signal was coming from the ground and with all the red-tailed hawks and coops in the area I figured I wouldn’t find him the way I wanted. After a few minutes of walking back and forth with a sparrow on a string and nothing coming to it I knew it was going to be a bad ending to the day. I started to very carefully work into the woodline and finally after walking circles with a sparrow found him. He was still alive about 15 foot in a tree next to the trunk, but all puffed up and half closed almond eyes. I tried everything I had in the bag including lure, dead starling, live sparrow, and just calling the fist. Nothing was working so I finally decided to try climbing the tree. I slowly added weight to what now seemed like a sapling with me trying to climb it. As the tree would shake he would slick down so I had to move really slow to get up to him. It seemed like it took 20 minutes but it was really just over 5 minutes to climb up 15 foot to get him in reach. Since the last time I touched him and he was gone I carefull reached up and clipped him in first then tried to get him to step up. He bated around and started to scream again but was already clipped in. I worked my way out of the woods packed all my stuff up and walked just under a mile back to the truck.

He was pretty messed up and scared. He had a puncture in his eye lid, a feather on his eye that made his eye looked like it was scratched up, and wasn’t willing to eat the starling breast and wing I had on the glove until I got back into the truck. I got home and after feeding he was 104.5 at 12:00.

Update: 26 Nov 07: 7:15 95.7 I went out for a quick couple of free flights and then to the lure. Unfortunately like most falconers we must play by Murphys law. I got to the field among many industrial buildings and went to the less windy side before releasing him. I was able to call him to my fist twice before the wind carried him the building top and the kestrel came in. The two drifted and jusmped in the truck and tried to follow but lost sight quickly in the buildings. I parked down wind and pulled the receiver out. I began walking and ended up walking to the other end of the fence from where I started. I called him to the fist once and then to the lure just to get in some training and repetition. After flying at 8:30 105.2, later that night at 11:10 I had to feed him to 112 to fly the next afternoon.

Update: 28 Nov 07: 7:15 109.5 should be good for the afternoon…4:30 103 still a little heavy but in the afternoon he works much better. Went out with less than an hour of light left so I went to place down the street in the industrial area hoping the kestrel wouldn’t come in a bug us. I set up the bag sparrow but misread the bird and slipped him out but he just passed over it and up to the light pole he went, big sigh… I got out to hide the sparrow and call him down to try again. His response was pretty good but on his way down he caught a glimpse of the wild kestrel coming in and the chase was on a gain, #@!^ and another big sigh.

After 30 minutes of following the two fly back and forth to different light poles they split and I followed the one that landed close to people. I ran down the loading dock and tried to call him down with the lure. He took off again and I didnt have my receiver so I ran back to my truck and drove to where he was now sitting on a building half mile away. I turned the receiver on to check for a signal, and I had a fairly strong one even with the yagi folded up. I pulled my sparrow out and after multiple passes and 20 minutes he finally bound to the sparrow. I sat still to allow him to pluck a bit but he just sat there looking at me so I tried to make in but he let the sparrow go again. As he flew up to a wood post I noticed he didn’t have jesses hanging as he flew. It was past sunset as I pulled the receiver out again and then he took off into an area with security and a large fence. I finally got the yagi together as he flew towards the horizon and my heart sank. Now with the receiver on and the yagi open for a good signal I found myself pointing to area I originally started from. I thought it was just feedback from the buildings but I didnt have a choice because it was dark and my other choice was to try to BS with the security guard to get into an area I saw the bird fly but not where the signal was coming from. I walked back towards the signal and ended up in the loading docks that formed a " T " between three Wal-Mart size buildings. I kept walking back and forth thinking I was getting feedback because I couldn’t see my bird or the transmitter, but I turned the gain down to the point I would loose the signal with just a few steps. I finally found him with his foot up in the middle of an 8 foot landscaping tree. He had both jesses in and was within 15 yards of where I released him from the fist. The previous bird I was originally chasing and had come down and bind to a sparrow on a string was a wild kestrel. If I would have pulled my receiver out immediately after the split I think the night would have been much shorter. That is when I learned to pull telemetry and check it first, although I still leave it in the truck till I need it.

Update: 26 Jan 08: 10:00am 100.5 grams, out in the field at 1200.Today Katy and I went out to a new field with Diego El Fuego to look for some grasshoppers or sparrows. When we pulled into the field it was cloudy and cool but appeared to be clearing. Because he has a tendency of flying to near by trees I drove as far into the field as possible before pulling his jesses and releasing him into the field. The grasshoppers were not hopping because it was bit too cold but there were a few sparrows. The sparrows would get up and he would chase hard but they just drop right back in grass and would not come out. We got quite some flights with me holding the pole and Katy taking pictures. Then Katy and I switch and I was taking pictures with her walking the pole. Shortly after the switch a sparrow got up at my feet and he quickly got in behind it. It was a fairly long flight that I was watching instead photographing and he was able to get beneath cutting off its escape route into the grass. He continued to push it up and close the distance till he was able to pluck it out of the sky as it tried to dive for cover. As soon as he made contact I kneeled down and had already explained what I wanted Katy to do if he caught something and she did great. DEF flew toward the pole but he past it first, so I called him again and he circled back to landed on the pole with his first field sparrow in tow. At 1:57pm he is 113 with kill #31.

Update: 02 Mar 08: 6:55am 103 grams leaving the house for some hunting about 30 minutes away. Heading down to the island for some starling hawking with a friend, Mike. The island is one of the best areas around because the flocks of starlings are usually 5-8 strong and it seems like there is a group on every block. Unfortunately I wasn’t really expecting DEF to be so heavy this morning so I knew I would have to find a good slip. Mike and I met at the north end of the island at 7:50 so he could ride with me to our hunting area. We had to drive a little further than normal because of the wind but it was still only a few minutes before we had some starlings sighted.

I make sure to start every hunt by turning on the Micro, removing the jesses, and running the restraint string through the anklet for an easy release system. We were in an area with 6 streets and a canal separating each one, and each canal leads down to the intercoastal water way. The streets are about a mile long with houses on both sides and each house is on a canal. As we worked down one of the streets we saw some starlings landing in the middle of an empty lot. Everything was set up but right but before I released DEF they took off. I continued and I barely noticed another starling a few houses down, and at the last second I was able to make the slip. About three feet out the starling saw him coming in and it took off. With the speed DEF had he was able to close the distance and he started grabbing for it but the starling was just out of reach. We watched him chase the starling toward the canal and then disappear as they went around the house. I waited for a few seconds for him to come back up but with the wind and houses I figured he drifted to the next street and was on the power line. Just to make sure and before I wasted too much time I pulled the receiver out and went to get a signal. When standing between the houses the signal was strongest when pointing toward the other side of the canal.

I decided to go around to the other street to check the power lines over there. It took a few minutes because we had to go back to the main street then across to the next street and then had to figure out the general area he would be in. When we got over there the signal was weaker than before so I figured he was in the back yard and it was causing the signal to be weak. I went looking and had to turn the gain up even though I was just across the canal from where I had released him. Of course now the signal was strongest when pointing at the other side of the canal, the original side where I had just let him go. We headed back around to the location I had slipped him at and I had Mike drive while I walked and listened for a good strong signal. All of sudden the signal spiked so I turn the gain down and then pin point the location. I was pointing towards the canal and between two houses again. This time I followed it and started walking toward the canal and into someone’s back yard. Before going to far I look up on the roof, in the palm tree, and on the fence but the signal was strongest from the ground and I wasn’t able to see him anywhere. I slowly worked toward the strongest sound and since it had now been at least 5 minutes I was expecting the worst. I figured either a cat or a coopers was in the bushes eating my kestrel, or the kestrel had a sparrow and was about to carry it off and then get eaten by a cat or a coopers. As I creeped around in a strangers back yard I began to notice the tail of a kestrel on the other side of the bush. Then as slow as I could I peaked around the bush and there he was standing on a starling with the head half eaten. I made in and gave him a few tidbits then picked him and moved him out of the back yard and into the front where I felt less conspicuous. After I transfer him on to the fist Mike and I walked back around to the slip location and figured he had tail chased the starling close to 100 yards before catching it. From the release location he flew across the front yard and down the side of the first house, across the backyard of the next three houses, and I figure the starling must have been trying to hide in the palm or the bushes when he finally got it. Then he was able to hold it, kill it, and break in all on his own with out a cat a coopers getting him. I was hoping to take doubles but with such a great flight I had to reward him for it. I slipped him at 7:50 and we didn’t find him till 7:58 on starling #53 kill #67, after feeing he was 119.4 grams at 9:30.

Update: 15 Mar 08: 4:15pm 103.7 we headed out to a new field looking for grasshoppers and sparrows. Earlier in the day it was clear about 73 degrees and perfect fro field hawking but the bird was just too heavy so I had to wait for his weight to get close to right. I decided to bring the dog with us to since he hasn’t been able to come with us for a while. I found a gravel road that ran through the middle of the field so I was able to park far from trees or other perching areas. DEF was acting a little strange so I let the dog out first and got everything set up before releasing him, but he was still jumpy. As soon as I got out I figured it wouldn’t be the best day because the wind was blowing it was a bit cooler, almost too cold for grasshoppers. I started working the field and he drifted around and then started to wait on at 20’. After following above for a few minutes he got bored and headed back to the truck. Just after he landed on the truck I flushed a grasshopper so he came back over but I couldn’t get the flush again. He rode the pole for a bit then drifted off and caught a beetle. At least he brought it back to the pole. Shortly after we flushed a grasshopper and he made a good flight then brought it back to the pole. He caught another and then the wind caught him and carried him a ¼ mile away. It had been 30 minutes and the field wasn’t that great so I decided to call it a day. I called back in for a tidbit and we started home. On the way back we found some starlings and I gave him the slip even though he was had 4-5 tidbits, a beetle, and 2 grasshoppers. He still went out like guided missile and rolled up a starling to end the day. This bird is getting closer and closer to being what I am looking for. He just needs to get more excited about catching grasshoppers and returning the pole every time and stay put on sparrows, which I have not tried in a few months and he will be perfect. At 5:06pm he caught #64 starling kill # 77, the next morning at 8:00am he was still 109.8, well overweight.

Update: 23 March 07: 7:35am at 102.9, but I didn’t headed out for a starling till 8:00. On the weekends I go to areas that are more difficult during the week and to being a holiday I could go to some great places. The past few days he has been doing horrible in the field and not returning when called anytime, mainly because he weight is still to high for the temperature. Lucky for me he still gets really excited about starlings no matter what is going on. Recently I have decided to get some video footage of the kestrel rolling a starling and that was one of the goals today. After finding some starlings I got everything set up and made the slip with camera in hand. The starling was further out than normal but he made it and grabbed it. I did get in on video but it was so far out and I couldn’t operate the zoom it is hard to tell what happen exactly. I made in and took some video of the transfer and decided to feed him a little less to see if he would be ready in the afternoon for another video attempt. At 8:55am he was 110.8g sitting on the perch in the weathering area after catching starling #70 kill #84.

After doing the Easter stuff I hurried home so I could try some more hawking. At 5:02pm he was 101.2 on the way for some more starlings. The link I had here is what I got on the second slip of the day, starling #71 kill #85. I have already removed it, but if you want to see it email me and I I will try to send it to you. We continued after feeding him the head of this one. We found another starling but he missed and I had to walk over to him and have him step up to the glove from the fence. We went less than a mile down the street and caught the third starling for the day for the first time, starling #72 kill #86.

I am thinking the problems I am having are occurring first because his weight is high, second the temperature is increasing, third I am not around him and manning him as much, and a possible fourth is the breeding or migrating urge. I have been bringing his weight up but normally at 100g he is a great bird for the field or the car. I have flown him as high as 106.5 in the afternoon multiple times with similar weather conditions and he just rolls back when called. Over the last week or two I have started to see a drastic change in his response to the fist, lure, or dead starling. Another factor that could be causing the problem is he normally goes out and catches a starling on the first slip and therefore I have not been calling him back as much. The good thing is he still goes out and catches starlings consistently. After a total of three starlings, one of them with eggs in her the size of a jelly bean, he weighed 120.6 at 6:40pm. The new goal to the end the season with is 100 kills and if able I might change it to 100 starlings but I will probably have to call it quits first.

Update: 27 March 07: After feeding Jehu for the past few weeks I took him back to the exact same field I trapped him from and released him. I feed him everything I had in the freezer and his release weight was 1293g. He was so heavy that when initially bated without any assistance he only made it 5 feet. I walked over and convinced him to step up on the fist. After waiting a few minutes I reared back and threw him into the wind. He struggled with the first few wing beats but once he was up to speed he flew into a large pine. This ended one of the longest seasons I have ever had with the most birds all taking multiple head of what I was going for. The best bird this season and for my falconry career was Zap, after loosing her I will not fly a bird I like without telemetry.

Update: 15 March 07: Today was very interesting trip and was the first time I have had this experience with the public. Jessica C. came with us again to a new field this time, which looked great from the road. After getting into the center of the woods and not seeing a single squirrel nest my optimism was decreasing and I was wondering if Jessica was bad luck. We started toward the south until we came upon a clearing turning us east. About this time a group of crows developed around Jehu and he did not want to fly, so we had to head back to scare them off. After walking for 20 minutes checking all the trees for a squirrel nest or anything I was debating going to a different field. We started heading north along an opening with some houses and Jessica found the remnants of a nest. We started to look more and fight the crows off and eventually found some more nest. Although we had at least 6 nest with in 100 yards we still didn’t find a squirrel. We continued a bit further and found some really large nest in an old oak tree.

I normally work the trees around a large oak trying to get the squirrels in the are to move and the bird see them on his own. This didn’t happen, but I did see a flying squirrel take to another tree and start working up. Jehu is a good bird but by this time he was bored and looking for himself because I was not producing. I climbed the tree after the squirrel and got him to fly to a lower tree. Jehu saw this flying tree mouse and was very excited. He chased a few time after I worked it back up tree and it would bail then back up. It ended up some where in the large oak with the nest and I couldn’t get it moving again. I tried to get anything out of the nest but it wasn’t working so I decided to move on. We crossed a street and tried to work another section but it was too thick to move through. I couldn’t see any nest in the area any ways so we crossed back. Now heading west towards the truck I was thinking the hunt was pretty much over but little did I know the best was saved till last.

As Jessica and I struggled though some really thick brush and vines Jehu perched high above us looking around and Buck ran along the trails. Both of them continuously checking to see our progress of lack there of. I was keeping tabs on Jessica with occasional verbal responses because it was too thick to see through and we were only about 15 yards away from each other. As I struggled through I noticed some movement, stopped, threw a stick towards the tree, and sure enough a gray squirrel scurried up. I yelled squirrel for Jessica and then began prey call of “HO HO HOHOO.” Jehu spun around with a great look of anticipation but he couldn’t see the squirrel because it was on the wrong side of the tree. I wasn’t able to get to the tree so I called for Jessica. She happened to be close so I directed her to stay close to the bottom and keep the squirrel in the tree. I was keeping eyes on the squirrel as it went and wrap around Jehu made a pass. The squirrel changed her mind and decided up was the wrong way and started to come back down. I was yelling “its coming down” and Jessica did a great job making noise to send the squirrel back up. The oak had lots of small thick branches towards the bottom so I lost site of the squirrel and Jessica said she couldn’t see it either. I started around the tree and the Jehu took off away from the tree. I was in the middle of “what the crap is that stupid bird doing” when he changed his flight profile from flying to stooping and straight the brush and vines he went. I told Jessica he got it as I tried to make my way towards him, but I was stuck. The vines were so thick and strong I wasn’t able to get though. Jessica was already around and I could see her approaching Jehu but she couldn’t see him. I threw my glove to her and directed her how to approach him and then to hold to the squirrel so it couldn’t bite Jehu. Again she did great for someone who had only seen anything like for the first time.

So the chase was short but that wasn’t what was so different about this chase, it was now after the chase. After cutting my way though the vines with my game shears I took over, killing the squirrel. I then notice some sound coming through the woods. As the people started to become visible I notice a badge and uniform on the first one and what looked like a young girl following. I knew I was doing nothing wrong so I just got mentally prepared to be friendly and talk about what I was doing. Then the “officer” said “I hope that’s not a squirrel.” Many things went through my head except what was really about to occur. I was expecting the lady who was the “officer” to say it wasn’t squirrel season, or it was private property, or even I feed the squirrels so I made an appropriate response with no tact unfortunately. I knew it was squirrel season for falconers, the property was not marked, and I was pretty confident I could wow her by showing off the bird even if they did feed the squirrel so I just said “it sure is.” The girl following immediately started to whale and her body was shaking as if I just told her parents were dead. The lady then asked where I got it, if it was a male, and did it come to us. I didn’t know what was going on so I answered with what I thought was the best thing to say, mostly the truth. The squirrel came from within the woods (not really true), it was a female, and it ran from us. Then she said she wanted to see. By this point the squirrel was already bleeding and mostly dead but I showed her and she was satisfied it was a female. As soon as turned and told the girl and her brother who was also standing there the crying stopped and the worried face was wiped clean away. The girl still slightly whimpering from the self induce adrenalin rush walked back the way she came. The lady who was the mom and the brother then started to show some interest in what was really going on. They started to ask some ask some questions but seemed held back by something. She then explained that her daughter had hand raised a male gray squirrel and had just recently released it, which is the reason she was so upset. After explaining I wouldn’t be in the area they both left and we found a clearing to make the last 50 yards to the truck an easier walk. This was a very unusually public encounter for me, and I am sure it was awkward for Jessica, but at least she got to see a hawk on a squirrel up close.

Update: 13 March 07: Yesterday Jessica C. and my team went out to the new woods we hunted last time. I was hoping for some good luck but we worked all the way through and into some more woods without seeing any thing. I decided to start the way back but as normal I took the long way, which took along a fence. Jessica found a huge squirrel nest about 20’ up but it was only 15 yards away from some really thick brush. I worked the brush edge first then towards the nest hoping it would flush the squirrel. It didn’t so I used some small sticks and then tried a long stick to poke it with but nothing came out. We then noticed another not to far away. I threw some stuff at that one but nothing came out so I went up. On the way up an enormous Fox Squirrel came out. Jehu saw and came right in, landed 4’ away, looked at it, and then flew to another tree. I tried a little to get it moving but I didn’t really want Jehu to catch it so after 15 minutes we headed back to the truck. We were all looking for critters on the way back but there was nothing willing to show itself so we had to leave without a chase. I hate when you take someone out new and it ends with nothing.

Today I went south to try a field I have seen from the air but not from the ground. I drove for about 30 minutes to get there and 15 minutes in the area just to find there was nothing. I headed back and looked at another set of woods on the way back but they didn’t look much better. I decided to head all the way back to the woods north of Langley. I worked the area I caught a squirrel and found the babies hoping to find the female but I found a flying squirrel instead. I went much further this time into some woods I didn’t know were out there but I still didn’t find anything. On the way out I noticed some leaves moving in the tree as I walked out of the woods. I stopped and slowly worked around the tree and saw a little bit of a gray bushy tail. Grabbing some saplings and yelling Ho Ho Ho the chase was on.

The squirrel ran up the tree, I heard some bells behind me, and the squirrel bailed out. I hesitated for a split second thinking the bird would hit it any time but nothing happened so Buck and I were after it. I was right behind it when it made it though some thick brush. I got Buck to sit still and we listened for the squirrel running across the ground. I didn’t hear anything so I figured he had to be close. I looked at Jehu and he was looking at me so that was no help. I walked circles increasing in size each time for 5 minutes and couldn’t find anything, but every time I looked at Jehu he was looking in the same general area. I started walking around those trees, shaking stuff, throwing stick, and sending marbles but still nothing moved. I try to quietly walk around to the side and stopped to look close, which is when I saw the same small tip of the gray bushy tail. I sent a few extra marbles and he was moving again. He ran up, along a branch, bells started to ring and the squirrel jumped. Jehu knew exactly where the squirrel was the entire time and was waiting for this moment. He was watching in a pine only 10’ above and when the squirrel started for the end of the branch he made the stoop. Today Jehu had good timing and hit the squirrel right after the jump and before it made the next branch, bring the squirrel down. I quickly made in, dispatched the squirrel, took some pictures, and broke in. It made great ending to day I thought was going to end with nothing again. Jehu now has 80% catch on the Gray Squirrels we have seen, and it leaves only one more for us to catch before I start feeding him up for his release.

Update: 10 March 07: I had a SIM today at 1330 and I wasn’t able to get home till 1600 so it ate up some good daylight hours. I try to get out no later than 1530. Chad E. came with me again today, he was with Ranger and I when she caught her first bird. He was waiting at the house because I thought I would be done at 1530, and unfortunately for him he decided to try squirrel hawking with shorts on despite the warning I gave him. He thought it was too hot and had only seen the Ranger fly in a big open field, so needless to say he was a little surprised and tore up by the end of the hunt.

We all got in the truck and made the short 3 minute drive down to a new field I have been looking at for the past 4 weeks trying to figure out a way to get into. Recently I noticed a four-wheeler trail that went right through the middle of it with a shoulder large enough for me to park on while hunting. On the way to the field we noticed a squirrel run across the road at a section of woods just prior to the area I wanted to hunt. I hesitated and almost stopped to get the bird out and start hunting but decided to press on. As we rolled upon the planned hunting woods another squirrel just happen to run into the woods so I had Chad get out and keep an eye it while I got Jehu out. I pull him out, took the hood off, and he immediately took the tidbit today. I pointed high and said up then quickly lifted the fist and he took to the air climbing. He got about 30’ up in a pine and gave him some time to orient himself prior to making the squirrel move. After a few minutes I got the squirrel to move and the chase was on. The squirrel went running through the tops of the trees with Jehu making passes like the inexperience bird he is. I would try just after the squirrel made the leap to a different branch and was nearing the trunk, then he would wait and watch as it climbed above him. He put on some good close chases but he made some rookie mistakes and missed some easy passes for some reason, but he was trying hard.

Jehu finally hit the squirrel and knocked it to the ground but wasn’t able to keep it. Jehu was low so Chad and I ran through woods keeping an on it as best we could. I stopped and Chad stopped and we both listened trying to figure out where the little bastard went. Chad was all cut up from running through the woods and I was frustrated with Buck and Jehu. Buck for not keeping on the squirrel that ran right in front of him and Jehu for missing so many times. Neither one of us knew where the squirrel went so I thought Jehu had missed a squirrel after trying so hard. I waited and let Jehu work up into the trees and then watched him. He looked around and then he spotted it a tree I figured it was in. He laddered up and the chase was back on. The squirrel ran through the trees and crossed into the yard boarding the woods with a chain link fence. Chad looked at me and then over the fence he went. The squirrel made it to the top of the tree and none of knew where it was for about 3 minutes. Finally I spotted it and sent a few marbles his way, then Jehu saw it and began laddering up again. He made a few passes and I was running around to keep the squirrel from going into a creek bed full of dead trees and branches, and Chad was working under the two making noise to keep the squirrel off the ground. It was then Jehu decided to take the squirrel when no one was looking. I missed the entire thing but Chad said when he looked up he saw the bird in uncontrolled flight fighting with the squirrel coming down from about 20’. I heard him say they are coming down and I thought the bird behind the squirrel with the squirrel about to escape so I tried even more to get were I could push the squirrel back into the woods. Then Chad said they are on the ground but had a different tone. I looked over and the bird was mantling over a ball of squirrel. I told Chad to stay back and I ran over, jumped the fence, dove on the squirrel that was biting into Jehu's foot. It was relief but Jehu had a bite in a bad place. When the squirrel finally died I wiggled its head to get Jehu to foot it and he hit with a closed foot first, but then grabbed it. I was able to make in with out him getting footy but he didn’t transfer as nice as normal. We headed back with number 3 squirrel in the bag after a good 35 minute chase, starting the day at 870 and feeding him up to 976.

Update: 09 March 07: We got skunked today. I went to my new field again thinking it was great place and found it to be a bit empty. I started in the middle heading west and walked a big “U” to end in the area we caught last time. Jehu was following a little far behind and Buck is starting to range out a bit further but he is still responding well. I found a few good looking spots with nothing willing to move, or nothing I was able to see. Jehu never showed any interest either so I assume no squirrels were seen. I eventually made it to the area we caught last time and found another nest. I started throwing sticks and marbles at and heard a squeak so I knew a squirrel was in it. I ended up busting the nest to have two baby squirrels fall out. They were tiny with their eyes still shut and covered in fleas. That is why I hate hunting this time of year. I always feel so bad when babies fall out of the nest of we catch a female that has young suckling. I now check the females prior to killing them to make sure they are not producing milk.

While I was dealing with nest and babies Jehu took off after something and Buck heard the bells so he went to. I worked my way out of the woods and then had to wait to find Jehu. He was still low in some young pines and looking for something hard. I tried to make my way around to push what it was back towards the woods, thinking it was a squirrel. On my way around I flushed an armadillo and it went into a hole. Buck smelled it and followed it with the hair on is back sticking up. I thought that was what they were chasing but as I made my way out of the briars a bunny took off and Jehu was off. The bunny made it to some thick stuff and disappeared so I headed back to the woods.

I worked the area for a while hopping to find a female squirrel but I never did. I continued working in circles checking every tree using sticks and marbles but still nothing. I called quits for the area and started working back. At the truck I called the bird with the lure but he made a pass and landed in a tree. I put the lure up and called him to the fist, got Buck in the truck, and I jumped in the truck. Jehu only had a small amount of food on the fist so he finished it prior to getting home and I found he is not a pleasure to drive with.

Update: 07 March 07: Today Jehu caught the first squirrel we saw again. I went to a new lot of woods I have been looking at since I had Ranger, the Merlin. It is just outside the front gate of base and is on the down slope side of the hill towards a small creek. MWR is clearing the underbrush in part of it for a frisbee golf course, some gazebos’, and trails which made it much easier to walk through. The area looked closed or very unused and the base security was parked there when I arrived, so I talked to him a bit. I want to believe they either know me or know of me because many of them stopped and talked to me while flying Ranger on base.

I decided to leave a little earlier today because I had to drive and I think it might be easier to get squirrels moving. I have to hood Jehu before putting him in the giant hood or he jumps around and bends feathers. The problem is I havent trained him to the hood and I haven’t put it on him since February when I was in Baton Rouge. Luckly I am good at hooding him the dark of the garage so there was no problem. I parked in on of the twenty open spots at the “park” let Buck out, got my gear, and pulled the bird out. I wasn’t sure how he would act coming out of the hood so I had a tidbit ready and was aiming towards the direction I wanted him to go. I removed the hood and was glaring. I whistled softly and rotated my fist trying to get him to take the tidbit but he was not interested. Then he looked like he was going to bate so I picked up the tidbit with my right hand and showed him. He looked at it, then back up and out, then back at the tidbit as I was setting it on the glove again and decided he would take the tidbit and calm down. I said “hup” and swiftly lifted my fist as he took for the trees with Buck sitting at my side looking at me with his head tilted slightly to right and ears perked up.

Buck and I started toward the fence of an unknown area and I hadn’t talked to the security officer yet. As I walked along the fence looking for an opening something rustled in the woods, Buck got very excited, Jehu was out of position, and I was on the wrong side of the fence. I was glad it sounded like a rabbit but still had to try for it. I ran back the way we had just walked to an opening in the fence just big enough for Buck to go under and I cleared the 4’ chain link fence in a flash. We were both running towards the area we heard the critter running but didn’t find anything. After deciding it was gone Jehu flew over to check it out. We worked through woods for about 10 minutes before finding the squirrel.

I started to shake all the dead branches I noticed some movement and the squirrel was in a large broken oak with two nest in it. Jehu was still out of position even though he was close he couldn’t see the squirrel. I made the squirrel move and Jehu saw it which started the chase. It was a normal Red-tail chase with a few minutes here and there of thinking and moving but once the squirrel was on the move he was behind it. The squirrel made the mistake of bailing and Jehu was right behind it, catching after it hit the ground. Unfortunately he is still not so good with his feet. I got to him and the squirrel had Jehu by the face, and Jehu had the squirrel with one foot on the wrong end with the other holding onto the ground. I got footed again while breaking in but this time I had gloves on. I let him eat the inners and I cut the head and front leg off to pick him up with. He is still transferring much better than I remember the other Red-tails I had so hopefully he stays that way. I fed him on the fist while driving back, which is much more troublesome than feeding a Merlin or Kestrel. I think a good weight for 75 F weather is about 870 and that squirrel makes two out of three, or 66% catch ratio.

Update: 05 March 07: Jehu, my Red-tailed Hawk, caught his first squirrel today in only 10 minutes. It was much faster than yesterdays chase. I released him from the backyard towards the front lot with Buck and I following. Jehu appeared to have strong flight, Buck was excited, and I was relieved to be hawking instead of working. I started through the woods looking for squirrels while trying to keep an eye on Jehu and Buck through the foliage. Twenty yards into the woods Jehu took off with strong flight and dedication towards something, drove through some branches, and crashed into some thick stuff. He fell out and a squirrel jump out then from limb to limb and wanted to come down the tree but I was there yelling and shaking saplings. The squirrel went up and down a few trees with Jehu laddering up and making a pass with every opportunity. One of the passes he slammed into a thick pine branch during his uncontrolled flight after missing the squirrel. The hit was so hard I truely thought he could have broke or bruised his wing, we will find out soon. He caught the squirrel on the 6th pass when the squirrel leaped from a sturdy branch to a flimsy branch and with luck Jehu snagged it on the way by. He brought it to the ground only a few feet in front of me with both his feet twisted and clamped onto the wrong end and the squirrel with a mouth full of feathers just above the tarsus. I quickly dispatched the squirrel helped break in and after letting him eat a bit made the transfer. Then made the "long" 20 yard walk back into the back yard with Buck wondering why we had to go back so soon.

The two wood lots I have used for training include the one across the street in front of the house and another wood lot behind the house. Till yesterday I had not seen a squirrel in either lots while hunting but I knew both had squirrels. Yesterday I found one in the lot behind the house about 45 minutes till dark on the way back to the house. He gave chase but sat more than he moved and most of the time it was with a foot up. Total time spent on the first squirrel we both saw was approximately 30 minutes. It ended with Jehu watching the squirrel run away on the ground. I was disappointed in Jehu for being lazy and not staying on the move, and with Buck for being a young pup not knowing where to look or when to use his nose to find stuff. He is work in progress but at least he stays close to me, far enough away from the bird, responds to commands while in the field.

Update: 30 January 07: The Red-tailed Hawk is hopping/flying up to 5 feet outside but is very distracked at a weight of 1000g. Check out the new caching link, I also put it at the bottom of the training page. It is the begining on how to train a kestrel to cache, yes there will be more to come later.

Update: 28 January 07: Since the loss of my Kestrel Zap, I trapped a merlin who caught 13 birds before I released her (see below), and now I am flying a male Red-tailed hawk trapped at 1020g on 16 Jan 07 in Alabama. He is currently flying to the fist 12 feet or across the room inside and I will be taking him outside soon. I am expecting him to be a squirrel killing machine and maybe take some rabbits and crows. I will type up more on the merlin and update the progress of the red-tail.

Update: 01 November 2006: Got a call from a friend wanting to know if I wanted to go trapping so I hesitated for a few seconds then asked where he wanted to meet. During the hesitation I was thinking I don’t have a bird, I have been wanting to trapping with him for a while, and I need to learn so good trapping methods he is willing to share. We met at the local gas station got a burrito to go and started driving. Only saw a few birds but trapped a beautiful female merlin weighing at 218g.

She was sitting on a telephone pole on the outer edge of a big school yard. We set out the portable dho gaza, hoped back in the truck, and drove down to turn around. No sooner we turned around and she was already focused on the sparrow and practically trapped, yeah right. She came like black missile and then became a tangled ball of feathers and net. It was awesome and easy once we found her. We continued to look and saw a few on the wing but it was getting late in the morning so we called it quits.

I headed home with lots of extra knowledge, some of it stuck and some of it didn’t. I also had a freshly trapped merlin sitting on my fist. The merlin was not really part of the plan but it is now and we will see how it works out. The goal after the loss of Zap was to trap a male Kestrel (so far trapped 3 hags), or a female Red-Tailed Hawk. I think she will be a fun bird.

Update: 22 October 2006 (typed 28 Jan 07): This was a bad day. I was traveling all weekend and everything was different, the routine, time on the perch vs. in the giant hood, and the area with many new and different birds flying around. The normal area has a few White-tailed Hawks, Crested Caracaras, and Osprey but that was it until recently when the kestrels, coopers hawks, Merlins, and Peregrines started to show up. She didn’t seem to mind any of the normal birds or the new birds but she also didn’t see many. When in the new area with crows and her nemesis the Red-tailed hawk she was constantly screaming and freaking out. In the first few hours of the trip I knew it was going to be interesting because she would see a Red-tailed hawk on a pole and scream for more than 5 minutes or until I put her in the giant hood.

During the tip I made note of all the good looking fields I wanted to try on the way back. I stopped at one of the more convenient ones looked around, took a few steps into the field, and flushed some good sparrows. I was expecting a short hunt and getting back on the road but it ended with disappointment. I could see a Red-tailed hawk on the pole across the field but I figured if I got her on the pole and went in the opposite direction she would get a sparrow, carry it to the pole, bale of hay, or roof of the building and when she finished I would call her down and head home. I got her out the car, put on the pole and off she went, Right to the Red-tailed hawk screaming the entire way. She made a pass at the red-tail and kept going up and away.

I watched her for about 30 seconds while throwing the lure. Then unhitched the trailer I was pulling and started the search. About 15 minutes later I was a mile down wind and found 3 kestrels, 2 of them seemed to be harassing the third one who was constantly screaming just like Zap was when she left. I ran through the field with the “T” pole held high, throwing the lure high and fast, and flushing the grasshoppers with each step. It didn’t work she continued to drift away this time back toward the first field but crosswind. That was the last I saw her. I called another falconer and he helped me look for the next 4 hours and I drove back the next day after work but I wasn’t able to find her. I should have called in “sick” for work and just looked all day but I felt confident she will survive.

Under normal circumstances I would never suggest stop looking for a bird lost during a hunt, especially after only looking for 5 hours on the first day and 3 hours the second. This is because I personally believe they will have a more difficult time surviving. In this situation, still not preferred, the kestrel was flying without jesses, at a heavy weight, and in an area full of things she can catch and was used to catching.

The reasons I lost Zap include the following but not in any specific order: Flying at a high weight, not having a live sparrow in the bag, flying a short time after she was freaking out, in a new field, with a red-tailed hawk in the field, time in giant hood vs time on the perch, change in routine, knowing she has bad response to the lure, over confident she will just come back, and flying without telemetry. Each of these had a different effect and some are just insurance methods but all of these added together caused the loss of a great mannered, good hunting, and steady American Kestrel, Zap Decator.

I hope she is out there hunting and killing and will soon be making new hunting and killing baby kestrels.

Update: 18 October 2006: Today is another one of those days that should be shared with others. I was hoping for a starling today but it didn’t work out. I did give her two slips but they weren’t very good and she was overweight. I headed to a field, but on the way had to slip her at some sparrows, and had to call her down with the lure.

I got to the NEW field and started hawking. It didn’t look good at first but then a sparrow flushed and she was off. The sparrow flew towards the only tree in the field, which was only 10 yards a way, and when Zap didn’t catch it she went to the top. I tried to call her down but she wouldn’t respond. I continued hawking to entice her and it worked, she was back on the “T” pole in a few minutes.

We headed to the middle of the field far away from the tree in hopes of her coming back to the pole after a miss. Another sparrow flushed, but this time the sparrow was 20 yards away and heading right back to the tree. After what felt like a long pause Zap was off and looking really fast. She chased the sparrow the entire 100 yards back to the tree got a foot on it but only came up with feathers. She then came back to the pole, which was a surprise. I flushed another sparrow that she put back into the grass and then she went to the pole. I called her down to the pole with a tidbit after a few minutes of hunting without Zap on the pole.

Once on the pole again I headed back to the middle of the field. We got a few more chases and she finally connected. A second later she was in the air flying away. I tried to call her back to the pole with no results. Zap carried the sparrow 300+ yards to a telephone pole. I started the walk over when I saw she had settled and was not coming back. About the same time I saw another kestrel coming in with hopes of a free meal. Zap took off and started looking for another place to land away from the intruding kestrel. She flew towards me so I called her to come back to the pole but she drifted away towards the tree in same tree in the middle of the field. Luckily the kestrel followed over there so she didn’t land. She then started to drift towards me, so I lifted the pole as high as the 4 foot PVC would reach and called her. She set her wings to come the few hundred yards back to the “T” pole. She landed and watched the wild kestrel drift away. I reached up and clipped her in and broke the sparrow open to feed the inners and let her eat the head on the pole. When she was done eating the head I called her to the fist with the wing and got to end the day on in a very good way.

Update: 16 October 2006: I have been busy with work and life and updating this site is one of my lower priorities. At least that is the case when there is nothing new, interesting, or exciting to describe. This weekend while out Dove hunting with Matt we discovered a great new field. We have always known it was there but I never really thought it was that great of a place till Saturday afternoon.

It was late in the afternoon when we headed over to Chip’s house, a mutual friend of Dave’s, Matt, and mine, to check on it after a storm came through because he was out of town. We decided to take our shotguns with us and see if we could find some dove after we checked things over. On out little walk around the property we discovered a perfect area for field hawking with many grasshoppers and sparrows. We also shot at a few dove and with all the shooting it only resulted in 3 dove in the bag.

Today I decided I would go over there to see what Zap thought of the field. I pulled into the drive shortly after 2 o’clock and hooded Zap for the walk into the field. It was the first time in the field and the first time to use the hood for the walk into the field, but it worked out nicely. I unclipped one jesse, unhooded her, pulled the other jesse, gave her a few seconds to rouse on the pole, and started to work the field. Five minutes into the field a bird flushed and she was right behind it for the 10 yards before it put back into the grass. She had short pause over the sparrow then came back to the pole. I worked toward the area and the sparrow flushed again only o make it a few feet before being Zapped into the grass. I was fairly close so I was able to get a hand on the sparrow before she left the ground and picked them both out the grass.

I allowed her to eat the some of the inners that I pulled out and the head of the sparrow on my fist. It was good thing I had her on the fist because just before she was done eating a female Coopers Hawk flew past us only 40 yards away. After she was done eating I put on the pole and continued through the field to flush a grasshopper, which was carried to the pole, and another sparrow. The same thing happened with this second sparrow. I flushed it, she chased it till it put in the grass, and I went over the area and she caught it on the reflush. I walked over to her and quickly got my hand in to pick them both up and allowed her to eat most of the sparrow on the fist on the walk out and ride home. This is a good beginning to a new week after a week of only 7 bird catches and a few bugs.

Update: 08 October 2006: Zap has been doing better over the past few weeks. I tried lowering her weight but it appeared that 108 was a little to low. I then brought her weight up around 110.5-111.5g and she still returns to the fist and continues to catch birds so I will keep it there. She has caught many more sparrows but she is not getting excited about the starlings. Although if the slip is right she will bind to it, which has led to the few she has caught recently.

Today was a good look into what she can do. There was a flock of 8 starlings feeding in the grass and a sparrow I didn’t see. It was the first slip and she was pretty excited but stayed on the fist till I motioned her out. She went out and dipped on the sparrow but it out moved her so she continued up about 18” stuck one foot out and snagged a starling. She immediately brought the other foot in to bind to it and they both somersaulted to the ground. She had it under control well before I got there.

I have been trying to get her to carry sparrow to me but it has not been working to good till yesterday. She had already caught one house sparrow and was now holding the second one for the day on the other side of a trash can. I got my arrow ready with a tidbit and peeked around the corner. She was standing there half mantling biting at the sparrows head. I offered the tidbit and she mantled some more but then saw the red food on the white nock. She did the sparrow shuffle over and got the tidbit. I did this a few more times and she ended up carrying the sparrow right to my fist, which was a total distance of about 4 feet. I will certainly continue to give her practice carrying the sparrow to me or at least to the arrow.

Update: 25 September 2006: I have been busy the last few days and haven’t been able to update, so this is what has happen over the last few days. Thursday Zap caught 2 sparrows in 2 slips. Friday she got one starling slip but flew over it, then she caught a sparrow on the next slip. We then went to the fields where she caught a cicada and another sparrow.

Saturday tried her on some starlings but she was still flying over them so I slipped her on sparrows and ended the day after two sparrow catches. Sunday morning it was raining but we tried anyways only to get one slip at the local feed store that she missed. In the after noon we didn’t get any slips again, so we tried the fields. The first field she chased some blackbirds but was not committing and the second field she chased a sparrow then flew up to the power lines and bound to a 109 gram female Kestrel, which had no major injuries and was released.

Today I still didn’t get any starling slips and only saw a few on the ground, so I gave her a few tries on sparrows. She caught one on the first slip, which was a surprise because it was 20+ yards out. Then it took her 4 more slips to catch the second sparrow. The best part is she has not carried sparrows yet.

Update: 20 September 2006: My work schedule has been interfering with my morning hunts and weight control. I now realize how hard it is to adjust weight without a consistent schedule. I was able to either fly in the morning or afternoon but now I am trying in the middle of the day. The starlings are almost impossible to find and the sparrows are in isolated areas, unlike the mornings when starlings are plentiful and sparrows are feeding everywhere.

The past few days I decided to only take slips on starlings and pass up sparrows, but it resulted in few or no slips and ended in the field with a few bugs. Today after the morning hunt time (0730-0900) I went out looking for the few starlings that might still be feeding. I found one but it was a bad slip and after an hour of looking I went for some sparrows. I found a flock that was on the other side of a ditch made the slip and she set her wings 20 yards out to glide in and make the catch. I picked up the sparrow and kestrel together and let her eat the head and some inners. I continued looking for more and found some sparrows and starlings but she didn’t catch either.

This afternoon we tried a new field. When trying new fields, Zap normally drifts away for the first few minutes but returns after checking things out. Once she was back on the pole I started working the field. There were some small grasshoppers that she normally passes up and some large dragonflies she makes occasional passes at. I started working some wet areas and a sparrow flushed 10’ out. She made chase and it put in a large bush. I tried reflushing it multiple times but it would boomerang right back into the bush. Finally the sparrow tired to make it to a different bush but had to bail early because it was about to get Zapped. I reflushed it from the grass and Zap caught it after a quick 15’ chase. The catch was in the top of some grass and when she opened her wings she was off. She carried the sparrow around looking for some where to land and then tried to find a place to cache it. That is about the time I walked up to her and tried taking pictures which she doesn’t like so she took off with it again and landed by the truck this time. I walk over and sat next to her while she picked and plucked. Once she slowed and started looking around I picked it up and let her finish it on my fist. We continued to hunt and she caught a dragonfly but no other birds got up. I put in the truck and went to a different field for her to catch some cicadas and then called it a day.

Update: 17 September 2006: Trapping season started September 15 here in Texas so Corey, an apprentice falconer I am helping, and I went trapping for his first kestrel. We went yesterday and spent a total of 5 hours driving and 1 hour trapping before we headed back with a bird. Only one Kestrel was trapped and it happened to be a 150g passage. I was surprised we even got one because they are hard to locate and trap this time of year. Luckily I got some information about Kestrel locations from some other friends who were down trapping Harris Hawks.

Zap has not been catching starlings for what reason I have not identified yet. She was never really excited about them but she would at least hit them. About a week ago she caught a starling early in the morning and 20 minutes later threw up all she had eaten. I wasn’t sure if she hadn’t cast or it was something else but that was the last starling she caught. I am thinking that might be a reason why she is hesitating or completely pulling off the starling slips I give her.

Today I gave her 5 good slips on starlings and she didn’t commit to any of them. One of the slips appeared to be less than perfect but turned out to be great. It was 15 yards out in a golf course with many birds. I slipped her and she went out perfect. None of the birds saw her coming and when she got to the starling she had picked out she flared and hovered a few inches over its head causing all of the birds to flush. I know she could have easily taken that starling so I am lowering her weight to see if that makes a difference.

The good thing is she doesn’t carry sparrows and there are plenty of those around. I want her to get a kill every day so when I see she wont catch a starling, I slip on a sparrow. That is going to stop because it is just hurting the starling catching more. This morning I had Corey with me and figured I would get a kill so he can see more about different ways to make in. She got a sparrow on the first sparrow slip I gave her. I then decided to go for another sparrow because she normally does fine. I messed up the first and second slip and the third one looked like she missed on purpose. So I got to show Corey the wrong way to do things and some techniques on how to get a over fed bird out a of a tree. The hunt ended okay with only one public encounter, one sparrow in the bag, and I still had a Kestrel on the fist.

Update: 13 September 2006: Today was interesting because of so many changes. The norm is to try and fly in the morning and afternoon, if not then feed a little in the morning and afternoon. If I cant do that then feed a good amount and hope for the best. I fed her up lastnight and didn’t feed her or fly her till this afternoon. I got home and she thought she was ready to go, but I had a little different plans. I wanted her to be a little lower because she hasn’t been coming back she had to wait. The recent weight of 111-113g was working but not for the last few days. Today I waited till she was approaching the lower 111g mark.

I set the sparrow trap for fresh insurance today and in 5 minutes had one. Once she was approaching the right weight I got ready and we headed out. I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do but I knew I wanted a starling. I set out looking for a good slip with a place for her to land if she missed and found a starling that she tried for but missed. I was able to call her back with only a short hesitation. The second slip she didn’t seem to try as hard for the starling but came to the fist better. I then drove through an area with lots of sparrows and I had to slip her. She went out the 6” gap of the slowly opening window and caught one with no problems. Now I had to face the dilemma of doubling or ending the day. Of course I set it up for doubles just incase I found something good and if not I would go field hawking.

I didn’t find anything good so out to the field we went. It was a new field but the same type I have been flying. I went out looking for cicadas and found plenty. She was cut’in and turn’in all over the sky catching the bugs left and right. After the sixth one I headed to an area with less bugs and maybe more birds. I have yet to see a sparrow in the field so far this year, but I still look. I walked towards a small bush and another cicada flew up and she was off. The cicada went up and Zap was climbing right behind it. The two went up 15-20 ft and then she reached out and grabbed it. She rolled around, set her wings, and headed back to the pole. I got to the bush and right before I was going to kick it another cicada got up. At the same she left the pole for the bug a bird came out the bush. She took off and headed right for the bug. She caught it and brought it back making her little chitter every time she lands on the pole with something. I looked for the bird but didn’t find anything. I headed to another bush and still didn’t find anything. I decided to give the first bush another try because there were only three in the field. I carefully worked towards it trying not to flush another cicada. At arriving to the bush I held the pole high and kicked around. She took off over the bush. I looked around the bush to see her right behind a large sparrow. The chase went out and came back, then over the bush, 180 degrees to the right, and then the sparrow disappeared in the grass with Zap standing on top looking in. I ran over to the area, got Zap back on the pole, and shushed (a sound I use to key her up). I then kicked around and out came the sparrow. She left the pole in a flash and hit the bird knocking it into the grass while she pitched up did a wingover to smashed into it. I thought that was the end of the hunt, but was partially wrong.

I did the normal killing of the bird, opening it, and then pulling its head off for a pick up piece. I then left her there to eat the bird. She plucked at it for about 30 seconds and then she picked it up, looked around, and cached it in the grass. I grabbed the pole lifted it up. She immediately flew to it ready to go for more. Unfortunately it was getting late, the bugs were not flushing anymore, and she caught the only sparrow I have seen in the fields. Today was a great day, with the first sparrow flush in the field and the first sparrow catch/cache in the field. I hope it only gets better from her on out.

Update: 12 September 2006: Zap has not been returning to the fist for anything, and I have been getting her back with 100% pure luck. Today I decided to try a different weight, but I didn’t really get to try it. A big south Texas thunder storm was building and dropping rain throughout the area. I got home from training, weighed Zap, and headed out just after it started to rain. I headed to the normal locations to find sparrows or starlings but found nothing. I tried another location that occasionally has birds but I don’t really like. I made a complete round through the area and was on the way out when I noticed 12 sparrows feeding in the middle of a yard. I prepped Zap clicked the window and made the slip. None of them saw her coming and one less flew away. I got out with my glove and arrow, walked up, pinned the sparrow, and picked them both up. She wanted to go back to the ground and I wanted to leave the area so I sort of compromised by getting in the car and letting her go to the floor. I stopped again to make the transfer and fed a good ration so I might fly this after noon.