Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Free Bird


Today was release day for Kali.  I was invited by some friends up North to join them for a hawk walk (Wyvern was along, pictures to come for that) and to then release Kali.  Before I cast her hood, I removed all her gear.


The final step is to remove her Federal band.  Once that was done, I removed her hood.  I have been increasing her weight in preparation for release, so immediately she flew away and up into the trees.  It was a nice Spring day, high 30s, sunny and mild breezes.


I wanted to send her on her way cropped up with good, rich food.  I prepared one of the pigeons that was accidentally killed during last October's trapping.  It took awhile for her to be convinced to come down for her last free meal with me.


She did eventually come down.  One last good meal accomplished, and a hop up to my fist for the final bites, she was then sent on her way.


Fly Free Kali!  Live a Good Life . . . Thanks for the fun this last winter.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Eagle Falconry



Rich and I use a GoPro with our hawking, although this last season I didn't have a whole lot of days out in the field with Rich along to record much.  However, this mini documentary about eagle falconry is a very good demonstration of the technology.

A lot of this appears familiar, as last month I went to go see The Eagle Huntress.  It may have been staged, but was still a very picturesque window into a unique form of falconry practiced by the nomadic Kazakh people.


End of the Season