Photo updates

Soren Day 7

830am 136g
1pm 134g fed to 161g

Soren's legs are looking a little better today. He is thou however still fearful of me and doesn't let me do a whole lot without bating off the fist. I'm really not sure but it will take time I guess. We are best friends when flying to the fist for food but otherwise he has both eyes on me and bates if I make any sudden movements at all. I am not sure how low I can take him before I run into danger. Maybe I'll get on NAFEX and see if there is anyone there that may have flown a jack Richardson's and see if I can get any idea on what's going on and how low it may be safe to take Soren. Soren has a keel but he is not crazy sharp.

Soren Day 6

945am 138g fed up to 159 with whole sparrow.

Soren Day 5

11am 137g fed to 171g

Today was good. We had 6-8 foot flights to the fist. I did larger tidbits today as I want Soren's legs to heal. His hood came in today but it is just a hair too big. It could be me though. I'll do more work with him and hooding. He would not sit on his perch with the hood on so tomorrow I'll do some manning with the hood. I've got to find a way to get him to stop picking at his jesses and messing up his legs.

Soren Day 4

10am 139g fed to 170g

Soren is doing really good today. He was jumping 3 to 4 feet to the fist from the ground. Fed him up today from 139 g to 170 g. Today I noticed a little bit of an issue with scale damage on his legs from his jesses so I cut the jesses off and put some removable jesses on after I cleaned them up and put Neosporin on it. Soren's hood is on the way and hopefully it shows up in this next day or so.he does a little bit of bating and that's gonna be the reason why his legs are hurt so I'm going to feed him good and just trying keep him as calm as possible until I can get the hood here and on his head.

He is however turning out really nice and calm. For the most part he is allowing me to pick him up and is regaining the perch on his own now so that's good.

Soren Day 3

830am 141g
1030am 141g fed to 165g

This morning Soren is acting alot better from the get go. He stepped up to the fist from the perch and gave me no fight to do so. Looks like the weight loss is making him think a little. He rode the fist great as I walked through the house doing minor chores with only a couple bates. He still hasn't learned to go back to the block perch after a bare but I am sure he will get that started soon enough.

At feeding time Soren jumped 2 feet to the fist. Perched at the ground jumping up to the fist as I sat on my chair. 10 jump ups followed by a tiring of a quail leg. His attitude is much better. He is also stepping up to the fist for no food now.

Soren is finally getting used to the activity of the family while he is perched at the dining room table too. A few bates here and there and has once now regained the perch instead of sitting on the floor of the perch waiting for me to put him back to the perch.

Soren Day 2

7am 145g
945am 144g fed to 165g

Oh yeah, we got our first hop to the fist today. After a few tidbits I got instant jumps as far as a foot to the fist! I also got this on video just in case no one believed me. After eating he is sitting on the fist with a foot tucked. Wow. This little guy is going to be fun!

Soren, the new Jack Merlin!

8am 150g
12pm 145g fed to 163g
6pm 154g

Day one with Soren and in less than 24 hours he is eating off the fist and tidbit ting from my fingers. It may take a few days to tame him down. Hood is ordered and on its way.

Sonya is ready, Amelia still needs some time and now we are almost 3 weeks into the season. I have been very busy with work situations so I didnt get to have the girls ready when Id like to. Either way, its ok as I really dont feel like messing with Rattle Snakes this year. Ill be taking Sonya out today for some flying after I get her tail mount put on for her Telemetry.

Ill be using my GoPro Camera this year and this video gives just a little taste on what it looks like from MY POINT OF VIEW.


You can find the GoPro Hero Camera at http://gopro.com/cameras/hd-helmet-hero-camera/

The Girls and the new GoPro Camera

Just a little video of the girls here durring the moult.

Just an Update

So far the Moult is doing great. Sonya has dropped 8 tail feathers and Amelia has dropped 4. Lots of body feathers and wing flight feathers are in the mix as well. The girls have gone totally silent with exception to a few chirps and talkative moments but no screaming to speak of. Sonya's Talon is growing in well. Little by little I'm hoping that she will have at least a usable talon for the new season 4 months from now. Sonya has stayed tame as can be but Amelia has turned to a wild child and is easily spooked into a bating fit. I really wish she would stop that. Soon here we will be doing some free lofting to see how they do together. I'm hoping that food doesn't become an issue as I really don't want to have to tether them down for the moult.

So far so good.

Lucky 21

Today the girls where both excited to get out. Amelia seems to be getting more vocal when we dont hunt for a few days. Amelia was at 870g and Sonya at 940g. We had a little bit of a breeze but nothing too much for a female Harris Hawk. The field behind Khols is one of my favorites and it doesnt have much cactus to deal with so I decided to take the girls there. At the truck getting the girls out I hit my hand in the sweet spot where I have cactus in my thumb still and that sent me into a spiral of pain for the rest of the hunt not to mention the day. I managed to get the girls out though and beeped up. Both girls seemed to want to play in the wind for the first 50 yards or so till I got a jack up and they where not in the best of postitions while they where jacking (Funny) around. From there they both decided to take to the TPerch and we where all busness after that. The second jack flushed within 100 yards of the truck and Amelia pulled fur loosing the jack before Sonya could get there to help. Amelia really is a speedy girl, I think she may just be Part Goshawk. LOL We chased a couple more jack rabbits with out success, suprisingly these rabbits wherent all that big but smart as all get out as they used the wind and bushes to thier advantage. Once we did the circle around the field and where pointed back to the truck, one of the biggest jack rabbits we have chased got up and instantly the girls where on thier way. Amelia connected first, as usual and started getting spun around and then pulled in a straight line away from me as the jack could see me coming. Thankfully Sonya came in and from her High pitch came down and slammed the jack. 2 birds aught to be enough I thought as I was coming in to help but then this monster Jack took both my birds for a ride. Eventually I got there and the jack pinned itself in a sage bush and I could help the girls. I couldnt stretch the rabbit as one of my hands is pretty much useless at this point so I had to compress. Both girls got a great reward for catching this huge jack and we all got back to the truck safely. I forgot my camera in the truck so I dont have any pics or video, which is not normal for me as it is also my phone and I never leave with out it. Good thing nothing bad happened. Ill be going to the doctor in the next couple days to see about getting my hand fixed. Hawking is fun and should be pain free for the most part right? I think so.

Valentines Hunt

Snowy Day

Well its been nearly a week and a half since I have gotten to get out and hunt. The last hunt was with Amelia as a solo bird as I invited 5 other falconers down to my town to hunt. Durring my hunt Amelia grabbed 2 jacks and held on to one just long enough for me to get there and help. I do appologize as that I do not have a picture but I may have the video some time here. You see I managed to jump into some cactus when I jumped to help my bird stop the jack. I ended up with hundreds of cactus spines in my hand and wrist. I spent the next 3.5 hours in the emergency room getting spines taken out of tendons and flesh. Unfortunatly this has really caused some trauma to my hand and I have had alot of pain and hard times dealing with this. At this point I still can not use my thumb on my right hand. Such a deal, Sonya hurt, Myself hurt but in the end,

WE GOT THE JACK!

Bummer

Well I havent posted on the hunts for a while but we have had a good time and the birds have done well getting us up to 19 jack rabbits for the season. Yesterday Sonya broke her middle tallon on the right foot. Seems she might just be done for the season. If not we will only hunt cottontail and no jacks as I cant risk her breaking other Talons.

It Looks like for now that Amelia will be the only one hunted for a while. She could use the one on one though as our bond grows. We may do more jacks alone or we may just do some cottontail and or pigeon hawking.

What a Season. For sure.

Jack 13