Today's adventures culminated at the last moment, and finished up by giving a Falconry 101 plug, and meet some nice guys. This is Bruce on the left, and I'm letting him hold a satiated and hooded Seneca. On the right is his friend Adam.
Just prior to going into my work weekend we got the first truly cold blast of this winter. Last Thursday was just too awful to even think about going outside. I just fed Seneca up, and boosted her for a couple days to keep her internal fires going through the cold, and my not being able to fly her. After a quick nap this morning, after getting off work, and after tagging along with Rich to pick up some auction stuff, My Girl was at a good enough weight to fly. I chose the Byron field as I have not been there this year. In fact, I've not been there for 2 years since I had a short season last year due to my need for knee surgery.
As always, this favorite field (which is no longer secret) has an abundance of bunnies. We kicked up several, and Seneca made a play for a few of them, but she was not following tightly, and mostly self hunting. We were not out long, and it was starting to get late, so I tried to call her down. This was when we encountered these two gentlemen, who were standing outside a restaurant/bar at our chosen location. She ignored my lure call, and was staring intently the other direction in a very brushy spot I had just passed through recently. As I made my way out into the open to try calling her again, she left her perch and flew rather gently across the open area, down, then crashed the thick brush and caught a bunny.
It might not be greatly evident from this picture, but her catch in this brushy spot was VERY thick and brushy. I had to crawl over a lot of downed tree branches to get to her. Thankfully, she had a good grip on her prize. After getting to her, dispatching bunny, securing her, and allowing her to eat her fresh catch, I extricated myself out of the brush, and Rich took a quick picture of us.
We returned to near our parked car, and popped into the restaurant/bar and called Bruce and Adam over to get an opportunity to see the hawk up close. Bruce had told Rich while they were watching me try to call her down that he has a tattoo of a hawk on his shoulder. I figured he'd like to see her up close, and maybe even be allowed a quick hold.
It was an unexpectedly quick happy turn of luck just when we were about to throw in the lure and go home. Seneca got a really nice large and warm meal after these very cold days. Rich and I met a couple nice guys and hopefully made their day.
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Today I invited a young lady to go out hawking with me and Seneca. As usual when I invite someone to go hawking I will inform them that they:
1. Will see a hawk today.
2. Will see a hawk fly.
3. May NOT see a hawk catch anything.
Today Seneca fulfilled her destiny, as Jenna suggested over Messenger, that we could have "fun" with a telemetry chase.
I went to meet Jenna near her home in Stillwater. She works with the education birds at the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, and has extensive bird handling and training experience. She is interested in seeing falconry. Seneca has increasingly become intolerant of me having anyone else in the field with me for hunts. True to form, once released, she bounced quick. However, she also immediately was challenged by a pair of resident hawks, and the game was on. She took off over the hill and quickly moved out of sight.
I've advanced in my falconry that I really don't worry too much about this. Certainly, I don't want to lose a bird, but fly offs can happen. This is particularly part of the reason why I plan to release her back to the wild this Spring . . . she just really wants to go claim a territory, and a mate. The last several hunts she's challenged the locals.
We walked back to my car, then drove around the field in the direction she flew off. Fortunately, she had just taken a tree across the road. I never had to pull the yagi (receiver antenna) out. After a tiny delay she did come down for the garnished lure. What you don't see because the video drifts out of frame as Jenna must have started watching without the camera, is that the Saucy Girl grabbed my hand. She was really jazzed up about challenging the locals.
Once secured and fed, I put her away, and we proceeded to drive around looking for any passage birds (first year hawks) that we could attempt to trap. Just about the time we gave up and decided to go get food, we saw a bird. I prepared the trap, and as we were about to place it the wild hawk we were watching bumped and flew across the busy freeway. We followed, and after some searching found an adult pair, and then a juvie. With minimal effort, we convinced him to come explore the trap and get caught. Size and weight indicated a male, which I have no interest in keeping. I let Jenna release him, which is always fun for people, even those who handle birds all the time.
Let's try again some time Jenna, maybe this time closer to my home.
Today was just a quick free flight at one of my very local bunny spots. We were not there very long as it was within 1/2 hour of sunset. Also, Seneca is still too high for great performance, but she showed she knows what this game is about. We did move one bunny, but no contact. She came to the lure when I called, although just a little delayed. Hopefully the cold weather will arrive, which will help shed those last extra grams and focus my girl's attention.
I anticipate this will be my last season with her. I am feeling the urge to let her return to the wild in the Spring. I do like this bird Very Much! However, my love for her is beyond simple possession, and extends into letting her regain her free life, and go find a territory and a mate.
But first, let's try to whack some wabbits, and maybe a few squirrels.
From Wednesday, October 16 to Tuesday, October 29 I was off from work for what is becoming my usual priority vacation. This two weeks was extended by an additional 4 days, 2 before and 2 after, as it falls between my mandatory work weekend. I did not have any extraordinarily exciting things planned for my time off, just spending it with my friends, and enjoying not having to go to work.
I began my down time by finally catching a good picture of the comet gracing our autumn skies. This is Comet C/2023 A3, also called Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. It was in the evening sky at this point, racing away from the sun to leave our solar system, to not return for what was calculated to be about 80,000 years. So, enjoy it while it is here.
On the evening of Tuesday, October 15, as I was taking this comet picture above, my friend Darla arrived from her home in Illinois to spend a week with me. She brought with her a small Ty Dragon, named Cinder, for me to have and to join a group of her friends in a FB page, where we should take pictures of our dragon doing fun things, and share with the group. It is a friend's group like Flat Stanley, only we won't write letters to anyone, just post travel and destination pictures. Darla's Ty Dragon's name is "Darla". She's pink.
Wednesday, October 16
Plans for the first full day with my friend were delayed as I discovered I had a flat tire. Upon taking the wheel off (thank you Rich) there was a large screw imbedded close to the edge. I took it, sporting my donut, to a local repair shop, where they were able to patch it and put it back on. At least this happened on a vacation day, and not a busy work day.
With this slight delay dealt with, Darla and I headed out for our first day's adventures. Having never visited it before, I decided we should go see the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota, which is where the Hormel Foods packing plant is located. On our way we stopped at the Nautical Bowls in Rochester, a "super foods" fad popular right now featuring acai palm berries, and other mashed and frozen exotic fruits, like mango, dragon fruit (pitaya), coconut, spirulina (they call it Blue Majik), chia and cacao (chocolate). It is topped with nut butters and sliced fresh fruits. It makes for a tasty snack/meal, and the guy at the counter helping us was super friendly. He looked like he should be on a beach somewhere, which being in Rochester, is a very long way away from a beach.
My time spent with Darla (the friend) would include lots of pictures of Darla (the dragon) and my dragon Cinder doing various fun things. Like riding the hogs on the statue outside the Spam Museum.
Hey Darla, how many Spam cans tall are you?
Oh, about 19, maybe 20 if you count the hair clip.
I am definitely in the 20 range.
There was an interactive game, mostly designed for kids ~ but hey, adults can have fun too ~ of challenging yourself to pack Spam cans against a timer, to see who is the fastest. I guess training for future factory workers. We packed them with dragons. As a side comment, check out the bean bag like spam replica. It was a soft, mushy bag, resembling the soft mushy ground pork that makes up the Spam product. Kinda gross, really.
That said, I had to buy several cans to take home. They had all the flavors, many which you will seldom see in the store. I picked a few exotic ones to try at future breakfasts or dinners. I myself do not really care that much for Spam, but it is quite loved by many cultures in the world. Here is a good article talking about all that:
The following day would find us returning very close to where we were on Wednesday. Darla had arranged to meet up with someone in Iowa to acquire several more of her beloved Darla Dragons. They apparently come in a variety of sizes. Our journey would take us to Mason City, so we checked out a few interesting things in the area.
There was a sculpture garden that was kitschy,
and then a Frank Lloyd Wright house, that very much was not. Next to the FLW house was an interpretive building that told the history of the Stockman House and sold souvenirs and such. Darla likes architecture and frequently posts about it on her FB page.
After our tour of "art", both great and small we had dinner at a local spot with a car theme.
Darla also likes classic cars. In fact, she is rather a fan of just about everything from the 60s, and thereabouts.
While at this lunch stop I saw a promotional poster that would encompass what we did afterwards.
I don't really care much about musicians in general, and not specifically any historical ones, but this is something that Darla is quite passionate about. So when on vacation you accommodate your friend who finds these things interesting.
Rather than write the details here, just follow this link:
We did visit the crash site memorial by the road, but did not walk into the field as Darla does not travel far easily. There are plenty of pictures to see what it looks like.
I include the following two pictures borrowed off the Internet. For many years my friend was the front female vocalist for a 60s tribute band in the Chicago area that performed hits from the Hippie Era.
Returning home that night we went to visit and shared dinner with my local friends Fox and Roman.
We had "Hot Pot". Rather than describe it, this video details how it is done. Fox is quite a fan of Eastern cuisine.
Friday was a quiet day, mostly. Darla and I stayed home. I did host a small cookout for a special friend and her family. No pictures of them. S'OK . . . I remember who it was. Just for this event I had purchased a new porch set. It's late in the sitting outside season, but will be really nice next summer. I also have an umbrella acquired previously, so had Rich go looking on his auction sites and found me an umbrella stand and a cushion storage box.
Falconry! Or more appropriately for me, Hawking! It is a passion, and a way of life. I happily pursue this sport, with the loving assistance of my husband. Come along with me for our adventures with the birds. Primarily we actively pursue it in the colder months . . . the rest of the time I try to make this blog as interesting as possible. Come let me share my stories, and feel free to contact me. I always enjoy talking about my obsession with this sport.
