Some Action with Wyvern, and soon Nova too!

First tiny bunny for Wyvern this winter.  Oh, and on this day she would go on to lose her transmitter in that thick brush, and Rich and I would go back later in the dark and find it.

Bunny #2 for Wyvern when out with Anna.

Bunny #3 with Rich at one of our favorite farm yards.

Nova is doing long creance flights and will be flying free soon.

New Apprentice - New Bird

Some time in September, I think it was, I was contacted by our Falconry Coordinator for the State of Minnesota inquiring if I might be interested in taking over the apprenticeship of a young lady in Rochester.  Her name is Anna (last name withheld by design).  She has already passed all the initial hurdles to get into falconry, having been a Junior Apprentice with her father, and having previously had a bird.  Through circumstances which I will not document here, she was needing a new sponsor. I met up with her and was impressed with her drive and commitment to the sport.  I agreed to take her on.  We then spent a good number of days in September and October looking for a bird for her.  It was a long hunt, and few birds were spotted in the Rochester area, but finally, on October 10 we found this girl outside of Austin, Minnesota.  She came to the trap very quickly and was taken home triumphantly.  She weighed in at 1325 grams, a solid female.

Anna has named her Nova

Progress has been a little slow, but finally this girl is starting to understand what is being asked of her.  Last night I had Anna calling her across the garage.  Soon, she will be tested outside for longer creance flight.

Falconry Education Talk (in 5 parts)

In October I was asked to give an education talk about Falconry to one of the local small schools during their camping week.  I was joined by Foxfeather and my new apprentice Anna.  The kids asked great questions . . . and my hawking posse friends did great too sharing their own birds with the group.