All the things
Whoops, failed to update this sooner somehow. Well, here's what we've been up to since the bunny:
1/16: 419 g. Took Pele back to the bunny field, hoping for a repeat performance. She spotted a cottontail in some dense brambles and chased it back and forth for a while, but it was much more maneuverable than she was in the thick vines and thorns. Still, pretty amazing to see what kinds of small spaces she can fit through. She was using her wings and feet to propel her through the stuff, and it looked like she was swimming through it, haha. Bunny got away, and before we could get too much farther to look for another one, we flushed a sparrow which darted out low over the grass and into a tree at the edge of a pond. Pele was right behind it, and grabbed it off the branch the very moment that it landed. Her momentum propelled both of them into the pond itself, and she splashed herself back up onto the bank to eat her catch, while sopping wet. #33
1/17: 419 g. Very windy day. We went to FP3 since it's the most reliable field in bad weather. Pele nearly got blown off my glove a couple of times, and at one point got fed up with me walking into the wind and just jumped off the glove and sat on the ground. I picked her up and eventually we flushed some sparrows, most of which she missed, until she got one. Rough day for hawking. #34
1/18: 421 g. First day of classes for me for the semester, and of course, my class is right at the time Pele and I usually go out. Time to start reducing her weight so I can fly her earlier in the day.
1/19: 411 g and a few hours early. Went to FP0 in hopes of chasing the bunny there that she had grabbed once. She did chase it, all right, but I don't think she was able to get a foot on it this time. It went down into a ditch, and I would have tried to reflush it for her, but a guy from the power company was doing something with a nearby power pole, making Pele nervous. We headed out deeper into the field instead, where she caught two sparrows. #35-36.
1/20: 414 g. My roommate Bree came with us to FP3. I'm still trying to socialize Pele and get her used to hunting around other people, but most of the people I know either don't have the time to come out with us or don't really feel like standing around for an hour while Pele and I walk around some distance away. The early stages of socialization are pretty boring for a spectator. Whenever we got a little too close to Bree, Pele would make her little duck-like "wahk-wahk" call and start acting nervous. She even flew off a few times. We flushed a bunny at one point, and Pele took off after it, but broke off early as the bunny was headed straight for Bree. It ran right past her feet, and we couldn't find it afterward. I told her she should have just reached over and grabbed it, haha. She's not used to the ridiculous hands-on aspects of falconry, though. ;) Pele did eventually catch a sparrow in a cool flight, with her grabbing it in midair and bringing it down into the grass, but Bree had grown bored by then and wasn't even watching. A shame. #37
1/21: 403 g. Back to the field on 49, looking for bunnies. It was a nice day and I felt like a walk, so we took our time. Pele caught a sparrow that had been resting on the side of a dirt road that ran through the field, and I traded her off of it so she didn't get full too early. We ended up being out there for about two hours and saw 3 bunnies, all of which she chased but couldn't quite get her feet on, so she got to eat her sparrow after all. #38
1/22: 400 g. We headed out early to avoid a storm that was coming in. It being Sunday, we went to Fox field, which I prefer only to fly on weekends since it's in an industrial area and people are around on weekdays, which always makes Pele nervous, of course. It was pretty heavily misty, and Pele got plenty wet while we were out there. I know there's a bunny in that field, but we couldn't manage to find it. She chased a few birds before finally catching one, and we headed home before things got any wetter. #39
1/23: 405 g. With class at 3, I figured I should take Pele to the nearest accessible spot so as not to waste time driving, so Farville corner it was. She caught one sparrow, but was still acting bratty and hungry for more afterward, so I left her unhooded while we walked back to the car, and she grabbed another out of a group of three that bumped in front of us. While heading back to the car after that, another passage Coopers flew up into a tree and watched us for a moment before taking off. #40-41.
1/24: 398 g. Tried FP0 again. No utilities workers this time, thankfully, but no bunny either. Pele spotted a sparrow from a little ways off and took off after it. It dove down into the grass, but she still had an eye on it, and managed to chase it out of its hiding spot and grab it the second time it tried to hide. She was in short grass now, though, and didn't feel very safe, so she headed for the treeline to eat her sparrow under better cover. I followed after her, but apparently she still had carrying in mind now, and she flew off deeper into the woods. Sigh. So I walked through them, swinging the lure and listening for her bell. I heard her rouse eventually, once she had finished her meal, and she hopped up onto a low branch near me, so I put the lure away and picked her up. Funny how I had ended up right next to her without really realizing where she was until then. I tried to head back out to the field with her, but accidentally scared up a brown thrasher. I think the noise it made started Pele, though, and luckily it was also smart enough to know how to hide from a hawk instead of flying out into the open. Pele wanted that bird, but she wasn't about to find it any time soon. Once back out in the grass we spent another few minutes looking for that bunny, but it was not to be found that day, so we packed up and went home. #42
One of my labmates had somehow never met Pele, though, so after home, I walked her over to school and she got to hang out in the lab for a while and be our temporary mascot. She was very calm and took it well - especially while hooded, of course, but she even did okay while unhooded for a while, too. She got a quail leg as a treat. Much bird paparazzi occurred, so I'm sure she has photos up all over facebook now.
1/25: 402 g. The sky was threatening rain again, so we went to FP3 for a quick flight. As it turns out, when you bring a warm, dry hawk to a field that is wet with rain and full of similarly wet and cold birds... the hawk kind of has an unfair advantage. She caught one sparrow in just under 10 minutes. I never actually saw it come up out of the grass, it was like it had tried to fly and she just stepped off my glove and grabbed it about three feet from me. On the walk back to the car she tried to do the same, but the birds just hid deeper in the grass, luckily for them. So, not much time outdoors, but with the weather, I was fine with that. Besides, like I said, it was pretty much totally unfair to the sparrows, and that just isn't much fun to watch. #43
1/26: 397 g. Too rainy to fly today for the first time in a long time. Oh well. Pele got a day off, and I didn't have to drive anywhere.
Searching for the missing FP0 bunny on 1/24
1/16: 419 g. Took Pele back to the bunny field, hoping for a repeat performance. She spotted a cottontail in some dense brambles and chased it back and forth for a while, but it was much more maneuverable than she was in the thick vines and thorns. Still, pretty amazing to see what kinds of small spaces she can fit through. She was using her wings and feet to propel her through the stuff, and it looked like she was swimming through it, haha. Bunny got away, and before we could get too much farther to look for another one, we flushed a sparrow which darted out low over the grass and into a tree at the edge of a pond. Pele was right behind it, and grabbed it off the branch the very moment that it landed. Her momentum propelled both of them into the pond itself, and she splashed herself back up onto the bank to eat her catch, while sopping wet. #33
1/17: 419 g. Very windy day. We went to FP3 since it's the most reliable field in bad weather. Pele nearly got blown off my glove a couple of times, and at one point got fed up with me walking into the wind and just jumped off the glove and sat on the ground. I picked her up and eventually we flushed some sparrows, most of which she missed, until she got one. Rough day for hawking. #34
1/18: 421 g. First day of classes for me for the semester, and of course, my class is right at the time Pele and I usually go out. Time to start reducing her weight so I can fly her earlier in the day.
1/19: 411 g and a few hours early. Went to FP0 in hopes of chasing the bunny there that she had grabbed once. She did chase it, all right, but I don't think she was able to get a foot on it this time. It went down into a ditch, and I would have tried to reflush it for her, but a guy from the power company was doing something with a nearby power pole, making Pele nervous. We headed out deeper into the field instead, where she caught two sparrows. #35-36.
1/20: 414 g. My roommate Bree came with us to FP3. I'm still trying to socialize Pele and get her used to hunting around other people, but most of the people I know either don't have the time to come out with us or don't really feel like standing around for an hour while Pele and I walk around some distance away. The early stages of socialization are pretty boring for a spectator. Whenever we got a little too close to Bree, Pele would make her little duck-like "wahk-wahk" call and start acting nervous. She even flew off a few times. We flushed a bunny at one point, and Pele took off after it, but broke off early as the bunny was headed straight for Bree. It ran right past her feet, and we couldn't find it afterward. I told her she should have just reached over and grabbed it, haha. She's not used to the ridiculous hands-on aspects of falconry, though. ;) Pele did eventually catch a sparrow in a cool flight, with her grabbing it in midair and bringing it down into the grass, but Bree had grown bored by then and wasn't even watching. A shame. #37
1/21: 403 g. Back to the field on 49, looking for bunnies. It was a nice day and I felt like a walk, so we took our time. Pele caught a sparrow that had been resting on the side of a dirt road that ran through the field, and I traded her off of it so she didn't get full too early. We ended up being out there for about two hours and saw 3 bunnies, all of which she chased but couldn't quite get her feet on, so she got to eat her sparrow after all. #38
1/22: 400 g. We headed out early to avoid a storm that was coming in. It being Sunday, we went to Fox field, which I prefer only to fly on weekends since it's in an industrial area and people are around on weekdays, which always makes Pele nervous, of course. It was pretty heavily misty, and Pele got plenty wet while we were out there. I know there's a bunny in that field, but we couldn't manage to find it. She chased a few birds before finally catching one, and we headed home before things got any wetter. #39
1/23: 405 g. With class at 3, I figured I should take Pele to the nearest accessible spot so as not to waste time driving, so Farville corner it was. She caught one sparrow, but was still acting bratty and hungry for more afterward, so I left her unhooded while we walked back to the car, and she grabbed another out of a group of three that bumped in front of us. While heading back to the car after that, another passage Coopers flew up into a tree and watched us for a moment before taking off. #40-41.
1/24: 398 g. Tried FP0 again. No utilities workers this time, thankfully, but no bunny either. Pele spotted a sparrow from a little ways off and took off after it. It dove down into the grass, but she still had an eye on it, and managed to chase it out of its hiding spot and grab it the second time it tried to hide. She was in short grass now, though, and didn't feel very safe, so she headed for the treeline to eat her sparrow under better cover. I followed after her, but apparently she still had carrying in mind now, and she flew off deeper into the woods. Sigh. So I walked through them, swinging the lure and listening for her bell. I heard her rouse eventually, once she had finished her meal, and she hopped up onto a low branch near me, so I put the lure away and picked her up. Funny how I had ended up right next to her without really realizing where she was until then. I tried to head back out to the field with her, but accidentally scared up a brown thrasher. I think the noise it made started Pele, though, and luckily it was also smart enough to know how to hide from a hawk instead of flying out into the open. Pele wanted that bird, but she wasn't about to find it any time soon. Once back out in the grass we spent another few minutes looking for that bunny, but it was not to be found that day, so we packed up and went home. #42
One of my labmates had somehow never met Pele, though, so after home, I walked her over to school and she got to hang out in the lab for a while and be our temporary mascot. She was very calm and took it well - especially while hooded, of course, but she even did okay while unhooded for a while, too. She got a quail leg as a treat. Much bird paparazzi occurred, so I'm sure she has photos up all over facebook now.
1/25: 402 g. The sky was threatening rain again, so we went to FP3 for a quick flight. As it turns out, when you bring a warm, dry hawk to a field that is wet with rain and full of similarly wet and cold birds... the hawk kind of has an unfair advantage. She caught one sparrow in just under 10 minutes. I never actually saw it come up out of the grass, it was like it had tried to fly and she just stepped off my glove and grabbed it about three feet from me. On the walk back to the car she tried to do the same, but the birds just hid deeper in the grass, luckily for them. So, not much time outdoors, but with the weather, I was fine with that. Besides, like I said, it was pretty much totally unfair to the sparrows, and that just isn't much fun to watch. #43
1/26: 397 g. Too rainy to fly today for the first time in a long time. Oh well. Pele got a day off, and I didn't have to drive anywhere.
Searching for the missing FP0 bunny on 1/24