Sonya and Amelia Together

Amelia's first hop!

Sonya's Third Jack!

Manning Amelia.

Amelia, just like all the other 3 Harris Hawks I have trained might as well be a wild trapped bird. Scared and not willing to sit on the fist for any length of time. I must have tried to get her to stand on the fist even but for 2 seconds at least 200 times yesterday. As far as I am concerned that is the normal thing for me. Now birds from different breeders may say manning will be different from breeder to breeder based on how the babies where raised. If there was any human interaction or if there was basicly only the parents in the mews breeding chamber. Last night I finally got her to stand on the fist for well over an hour and eventually she tucked up her wings! Tonight I hope she will eat for me. Ill try it a few times today durring the day.

Saturday Hunt

Yesterdays hunt though was entertaining we came home empty handed. We chased 3 cottontail and 4 of the dozen or so jacks. One of the jack chases was really good and Sonya acted like she really wanted it almost grabbing it 3 different times. This photo was the end of the day just before the sun went down.

Introducing Amelia !

Sonya Cottontail #13

Perfect Weather. Maybe just a little cooler would be nice but this was a great day to head out.

 The Cactus in this field is pretty nasty and can make you wish you had kevlar sox in at any given moment.

Just a little bunny blood and it made it to my ring.

Sonya Cottontail #12

Sonya 11th CottonTail

Little late posting this but here we go!

872 Grams

Today was a high weight fly but we flew like Devils of the sky. The wind kicked in a bit after 4 pm and that made it hard out here in this part of the prairie. The area where the cottontails really becomes a wind tunnel and the jacks are hit and miss as far as who runs with the wind or against.

Sonya today though flew like a champ with TONS of strength and speed. It just seemed like that last final commitment was lacking or the wind really was effecting her. I watched as she stretched out to grab 2 different jacks only to hit the floor and back up again for another try. We dang near got this Jack that ran in circles as it had no Idea what to think of a Hawk and a Human chasing it within 10 feet. Seemed that I was a good goalie and kept that rabbit on its toes while Sonya tried to get within striking distance. But alas we came home empty handed. Thats ok though as we flew pretty hard and maybe she worked off some of that weight and we can try again tomorrow. If she seals the deal tomorrow with the same conditions but a little lower in weight, I think I may have found her hunting weight for the current time. You know your bird is just a little too high when she goes to dink around towards the end of the hunt as if we haven't been finding things to chase for the past 2 hours.

Sonya Cotton Tail #10

It wasnt too windy all day till I got out. Seems this particular field likes to be a wind tunnel. We chased very well even though Sonya was sitting at 869 grams, the highest Ive flown her yet. Im still working her up till I get to the point that I feel may be her future hunting weight.