#44-53
1/27: 400 g. We went back to the bunny field and worked for about two hours trying to get one, but she couldn't seem to catch up to them, despite running across 5 in those couple hours. She did pull fur off of one, but the others just seemed to outrun and out-maneuver her every time. We couldn't manage to get a single sparrow either, though she had some near misses. Overall it seemed as though she was relatively low-energy and slower than usual. We saw a coyote out there, as well as two bald eagles, a couple redtails, and a harrier. Lots of predators like that spot, clearly.
1/28: 402 g. Decided to go try FP2 for the first time in ages. I actually had intended on going to FP1 but there was a gate across our usual parking spot. After about 20 minutes out in the field, I heard someone yell "Hey!" at us. I recovered Pele, who had been sitting on a fence at the edge of someone's yard that ran up against the field, then went to go talk to the guy, who was a police officer. Apparently someone had called him and reported an abandoned car at that lot, and someone walking toward the woods. Me, of course, having parked there, and walking through the field with Pele. It seems that on the other side of the woodlot is a house where they have caught people cooking meth about three times now. A car had been abandoned there before, too, right where I was parked - although if the nosy neighbor who had called the police had ever been paying attention, he would have seen me parking there before. Oh well. I ended up telling the officer a little about falconry, we commiserated over the lack of rabbits there (he used to hunt them in that field and what is now an ugly new neighborhood some 30 years ago, apparently). Pele caught two sparrows on the walk back through the field to the car about five minutes apart from each other, which was nice as I had no interest in sticking around for much longer and apparently weirding out whoever called the police initially. #44-45.
1/29: 402 g. Caught one sparrow at FP3. I don't have any notes on this flight and don't really remember it, so I suspect it wasn't anything remarkable. We did flush two bunnies there, but the grass is too tall at that site for her to get to them, I think. #46
1/30: Had a meeting and a class early that afternoon when I would normally fly her, so Pele got to do a bit of a workout instead of hunting. My goal is to raise her weight a little and build up her muscle mass to help increase her speed on rabbits.
1/31: 406 g. Went to FP3 to try and get a quick flight in before class. The first sparrow Pele caught, she did so in midair, using a new tactic. When sparrows go up, she usually breaks off the chase, preferring to get them when they try to dive for cover. Instead, as this sparrow climbed and arced to the left, she anticipated where it was going and cut it off, and grabbed it about 15 feet off the ground. So cool to watch! She caught a second sparrow while we were out there using her more standard tactics. $47-48.
2/1: 402 g. FP3 again. As part of my efforts to raise Pele's weight, I let her eat both of the sparrows she caught, again taking both in about 20 minutes. #49-50.
2/2: 420 g! Mission put on extra weight was a success. Not that I doubted it would be. We took the day to work on some serious exercise using a method called "restrained pursuits". A lot more intense than jump-ups, RPs involve me standing several yards from her perch, with her on my glove, and tossing a tidbit toward her perch. She has to fly toward the tidbit while her leash is still in my hand, and keep herself in the air, pulling, while I slowly let her travel toward it. She doesn't like doing these, but it's a good workout for her.
2/3: 414 g. I was afraid we wouldn't get to go out, as it was raining most of the day, but eventually it got light enough where we snuck out to FP3 and gave it a shot. Most of the birds had taken shelter from the rain, but I finally managed to flush one for her. It went up, and she flew up after it and reached out with one foot and plucked it right out of the air, then sailed down into the grass to eat it. Awesome catch. #51
2/4: 412 g. Even wetter than the previous day, and it showed in Pele's hesitance to chase much. She doesn't like being wet, after all. She put in a lot of good chases at Farville Corner, though, including one really amazing one where a sparrow flushed out of the grass, flew toward me, then made a sharp turn when it got too close and flew back out, and Pele followed it, every acrobatic inch of the way. It escaped, which I appreciate - a bird that can do all that and evade a hawk deserves to live! She later caught a sparrow on our way back to the car by slamming into the grass after it. #52
2/5: 416 g. Last day of flying before I leave for a conference for a couple days, so I wanted Pele to get some good exercise. So we went to our rabbit field, figuring she'd get a lot of tough chases in and wear herself out. I walked into one of the narrow arroyos and started kicking through the grass, and a bunny popped out. It climbed the bank and headed out over the dirt road, making a beeline for the nearest bramble patch. Pele was close behind it, and able to take a more direct route that didn't involve climbing up and down. I ran after them, and heard the bunny screaming as I made my way up the side of the ditch by the road. When I got up and could see, it was kicking at her and trying to flip her over and off of it, but she had both feet on its head and had it pinned down. I ran over and dispatched it for her, and let her crop up. She actually had her left hallux inside its mouth when I got there, but thankfully it hadn't bitten through the skin on her toe. #53; bunny #2!
I'm headed out to NC for a few days, but I'll pick Pele back up on Friday. Here's to our Friday night rabbit roast!
1/28: 402 g. Decided to go try FP2 for the first time in ages. I actually had intended on going to FP1 but there was a gate across our usual parking spot. After about 20 minutes out in the field, I heard someone yell "Hey!" at us. I recovered Pele, who had been sitting on a fence at the edge of someone's yard that ran up against the field, then went to go talk to the guy, who was a police officer. Apparently someone had called him and reported an abandoned car at that lot, and someone walking toward the woods. Me, of course, having parked there, and walking through the field with Pele. It seems that on the other side of the woodlot is a house where they have caught people cooking meth about three times now. A car had been abandoned there before, too, right where I was parked - although if the nosy neighbor who had called the police had ever been paying attention, he would have seen me parking there before. Oh well. I ended up telling the officer a little about falconry, we commiserated over the lack of rabbits there (he used to hunt them in that field and what is now an ugly new neighborhood some 30 years ago, apparently). Pele caught two sparrows on the walk back through the field to the car about five minutes apart from each other, which was nice as I had no interest in sticking around for much longer and apparently weirding out whoever called the police initially. #44-45.
1/29: 402 g. Caught one sparrow at FP3. I don't have any notes on this flight and don't really remember it, so I suspect it wasn't anything remarkable. We did flush two bunnies there, but the grass is too tall at that site for her to get to them, I think. #46
1/30: Had a meeting and a class early that afternoon when I would normally fly her, so Pele got to do a bit of a workout instead of hunting. My goal is to raise her weight a little and build up her muscle mass to help increase her speed on rabbits.
1/31: 406 g. Went to FP3 to try and get a quick flight in before class. The first sparrow Pele caught, she did so in midair, using a new tactic. When sparrows go up, she usually breaks off the chase, preferring to get them when they try to dive for cover. Instead, as this sparrow climbed and arced to the left, she anticipated where it was going and cut it off, and grabbed it about 15 feet off the ground. So cool to watch! She caught a second sparrow while we were out there using her more standard tactics. $47-48.
2/1: 402 g. FP3 again. As part of my efforts to raise Pele's weight, I let her eat both of the sparrows she caught, again taking both in about 20 minutes. #49-50.
2/2: 420 g! Mission put on extra weight was a success. Not that I doubted it would be. We took the day to work on some serious exercise using a method called "restrained pursuits". A lot more intense than jump-ups, RPs involve me standing several yards from her perch, with her on my glove, and tossing a tidbit toward her perch. She has to fly toward the tidbit while her leash is still in my hand, and keep herself in the air, pulling, while I slowly let her travel toward it. She doesn't like doing these, but it's a good workout for her.
2/3: 414 g. I was afraid we wouldn't get to go out, as it was raining most of the day, but eventually it got light enough where we snuck out to FP3 and gave it a shot. Most of the birds had taken shelter from the rain, but I finally managed to flush one for her. It went up, and she flew up after it and reached out with one foot and plucked it right out of the air, then sailed down into the grass to eat it. Awesome catch. #51
2/4: 412 g. Even wetter than the previous day, and it showed in Pele's hesitance to chase much. She doesn't like being wet, after all. She put in a lot of good chases at Farville Corner, though, including one really amazing one where a sparrow flushed out of the grass, flew toward me, then made a sharp turn when it got too close and flew back out, and Pele followed it, every acrobatic inch of the way. It escaped, which I appreciate - a bird that can do all that and evade a hawk deserves to live! She later caught a sparrow on our way back to the car by slamming into the grass after it. #52
2/5: 416 g. Last day of flying before I leave for a conference for a couple days, so I wanted Pele to get some good exercise. So we went to our rabbit field, figuring she'd get a lot of tough chases in and wear herself out. I walked into one of the narrow arroyos and started kicking through the grass, and a bunny popped out. It climbed the bank and headed out over the dirt road, making a beeline for the nearest bramble patch. Pele was close behind it, and able to take a more direct route that didn't involve climbing up and down. I ran after them, and heard the bunny screaming as I made my way up the side of the ditch by the road. When I got up and could see, it was kicking at her and trying to flip her over and off of it, but she had both feet on its head and had it pinned down. I ran over and dispatched it for her, and let her crop up. She actually had her left hallux inside its mouth when I got there, but thankfully it hadn't bitten through the skin on her toe. #53; bunny #2!
I'm headed out to NC for a few days, but I'll pick Pele back up on Friday. Here's to our Friday night rabbit roast!