Searching for my New Hunting Partner

It's the Month of October 2025!

I need to find a new hunting partner for this falconry season!

Just before the beginning of this month it has been unseasonably warm, and the migration seems to be stalled. Then I left home for a vacation in Costa Rica in the middle of October for almost 2 weeks, so probably just best I didn't find anyone. It is almost the end of the month and the quest continues. Here is the journey:

September 26

Relive Video - First Trapping Attempt - 2025

September 28

Relive Video - Second Trapping Attempt - 2025

September 29

No Relive Video for this one. I was following up on a lead given to me by a fellow hawk-friendly person. A juvie has been spotted/hanging out around the local community agriculture headquarters. I'll go check it out.

I found a bird . . . BUT . . . 

Right SIZE!!  BIG!!  Wrong Age!!  Adult - let it go!

I called the person who had given me the lead and she assured me there was a juvie there. I kept looking, and sure enough, there was another bird. Once I got the angle on it, it came to the trap pretty quick too.

Right Age, but still not the size I would like. Let it go too!

October 28

Relive Video - Fourth Trapping Attempt - 2025

A very beautiful leucistic / piebald ADULT bird. I need to go back sometime with a better camera. It had some pure white feathers on its backside.

All typical male-sized hawks.

October 29

Relive Video - Fifth Trapping Attempt - 2025

Found early in the day, and chased a bit, but still not a female-sized bird.

Sidney is a most excellent bird trainer (has worked for several large raptor centers) that is currently working for Fox for awhile. She has decided to get into falconry. I'm not sponsoring her, but I welcome her coming along and helping me, and learning how to trap a bird for falconry. She took both birds off the trap today.

Let the "dinky" boy go!

Another small boy found a little later. This guy had a single red tail feather, and also did not have his full 12. He must have had some yanked out early. The first set from their nest days are always brown striped. The next set will be red, usually at the first molt, in their following summer. But if it gets pulled before its time, it will come in red.

Thanks for your help today Sidney!

Costa Rica - October 2025

I will begin this . . . it will take quite a while to complete. I am home this previous evening, but so very much to do to re-integrate into my daily life. Back to work tonight.

For now, our journey was divided into several sections. I created a Relive video for much of the road trips. Several are completed. Several still need to be finished, or constructed.

Layover in Florida

We flew out on Wednesday, October 8. Because of the schedule of the planes it was just easier to fly to Florida first, and have a layover in a comfortable hotel. The following morning, beginning a sleep/wake pattern that would follow me throughout the trip, I was awake earlier than my travel companions. I left the room and walked outside into the Florida sunshine. I listened for unfamiliar birds. I did hear the familiar song of a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). I have heard these throughout my life in Texas, but they sadly do not come up into Minnesota. At least, not often. A search of eBird show they are seen as accidentals from time to time. Maybe they will begin to extend their range up here. An unfamiliar crow turned out to be a Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus). It had a different dialect than I am used to. Only using the Merlin App allowed me to ID this crow. They are hard to differentiate by visual observation. 

 

Costa Rica - Drive North

Costa Rica - Talamanca Hawk Watch

Conference Day Trips

Post Conference - Birding Day 1 ~ This one is a biggie!! I have not even started it.

Post Conference - Birding Day 2

Post Conference - Birding Day 3 "Moista Rica" - in the works

Costa Rica - Pura Vida

 

It is the morning of October 7, 2025. I am one day away from departure on a "Bucket List" (BL) adventure. I have always wanted to visit Costa Rica. Thanks to my friend, Foxfeather, I get to realize my dream. The best part is that I mostly didn't have to plan any of it. Fox is an expert at itinerary building, so I absolutely trust her skills.

It is 5 am as I write this. My wakeful schedule is off a bit having come off a work weekend. Yesterday after a short nap we went to the farm and brought back home my two bucks, Springer and Yodel, for Fall breeding, leading to Spring kids. I also dropped off my car for some maintenance while I'm away. Rich will be taking two weekends off from work, but will staycation at home. My BL adventure will not include him. He consoles his absence with the idea that the insects of that Central American country would probably eat him alive.

I sat outside for a little while in my hot tub. It is a clear night. A "Super Moon" rides high in the Western sky, at perigee, or closest approach, and currently full. Mostly the night is still. There is the muted crashes of thousands of rounded, dried cottonwood leaves, like so many cymbals, still clinging to the branches of the tree that looms large over our shed. The ever-present hum from I90 drops to its daily low, still present but not dominating the ear scape. Briefly, for a few tentative howls, a distant coyote calls out to its kin, and is answered.

The weather modulates, and has changed, and returned to a more moderate temperature, 40s to 60s. We had a few abnormal, uncomfortably high days into the mid 80s. Over the past week-and-a-half I have attempted to trap a passage hawk for this current hawking season, but of the four birds I caught, none met my size preferences. Also, the warm weather, to my mind, has stalled the migration. Hopefully, upon my return home, I'll have many birds on the move to choose from.   

I will be going technology dark, sort of, for this trip. I am bringing an older cell phone, and will endeavor to spend much more time in the real world, and shun the digital. I will be keeping a written journal, and may upload what I write later, upon my return.

I look forward to this adventure to begin.

Pura Vida!

(Pure Life! It is what all the Ticos* and Ticas* say in CR.)

*Ticos and Ticas are the way Costa Ricans refer to themselves.

Dave Noble Falconry

Ah, the Mystery that is the YouTube algorithm!! Somehow I never saw this video, which was created 5 years ago. This is the man that taught me falconry, way back in 2002. It is a most excellent example of the sport he introduced me into. After watching it I texted him, and he gave me permission to post it here. THIS is what falconry is for me!

Thank You Dave for giving me the opportunity to become a part of this world!

 

Rancho Randevu

 

It is early September, and in a little more than a month I will set out on a "bucket list" trip to Costa Rica. Rich will be staying home and taking care of all the critters, and is allowing me to borrow his camera for this epic trip. I wanted to practice a little prior to departure.

I recently became aware of a flower farm in the bluffs just outside of Winona. The gardener, Natalia, is passionate about dahlias, and her passion is evident in the quality and beauty of her labor.

The name of this gorgeous garden is Rancho Randevu, and it can be searched out on Facebook. Natalia sells arrangements, recently made an unforgettable floral statement at a wedding, and kindly let me come out and walk among the flowers and practice with Rich's camera.

Dahlias are not hardy to our zone, so must be planted yearly in the spring, and in the fall dug up for cold (not frozen) storage. This would be a lot of work for even a small garden. Rancho Randevu takes up a considerable footprint.

Natalia plans to work with her dahlia's genetics, and try to create new varieties. She enjoys sharing their beauty with her community.

Enjoy the Colors!!

On a lower field she has planted rows of zinnias, with an edge of cosmos. They add accent and different form to her flower cuttings. 

They are also some of my favorites.

The local bumblebees are big fans of the garden as well.

Thank You Natalia for sharing your garden with me today!!

Summer Vacation

It's the "Dog Days" of Summer, which actually have no relationship to heat and panting dogs. Here is a cute and short video to explain: DOG DAYS. I was fortunately granted a week of vacation, which actually turns out to be 11 days of freedom based simply on how my schedule works (weekend work). I decided to plan a little road trip for Rich and myself, however my house-sitter could not arrive until 6 days into my break, so I went about my usual activity during many of my vacation days, and got some things done around my house that I normally just don't have the energy or motivation to do while in my normal work schedule. 

I painted a whirly-gig that I scored on one of Rich's auctions. I like the movement they make. It was just a quick spray can job. No one will look close enough to critique my work. It is fun! I think I need to acquire some more. It is planted in the middle of my butternut squash pots, currently setting a lot of gourds for this fall's harvest, and the raised beds with lettuce that is going to seed now.

Speaking of Dogs - I washed mine.

Oliver was sure I was trying to drown him.

Nova took it surprisingly well. 

She's rather neophobic (afraid of new things), 

but didn't put up too much fight to get washed.

Now at least all the hair on my floors is mostly CLEAN hair.

I gave away my remaining fish in my fish tank, and then broke the entire setup down. I've decided I'm DONE with keeping fish. They can be nice, but do need maintenance, and I seem to be wanting to move into a phase of life where I try to limit the things that rely on me to fuss with them. Unless I REALLY want to. Some things, like dishes and laundry, I just can't free myself from, but extra chores of cleaning a fish tank, that I can disencumber myself of.

I am falconry bird-less right now, so not fussing with that. I shall approach the fall trapping season in a positive disposition, ready to take on a new challenge with the cooling weather.

After a few days of getting some things done around my house, and planning for my upcoming trip, I headed out on my adventures by doing something I have never done before. I took a train ride. Specifically, I booked a ride from the Amtrak station in Winona, Minnesota down to the Chicago area, where my friend Darla, who is also my house-sitter, would pick me up. Rather than picking me up at Union Station in the heart of Chicago, I exited the train in Glenview, a cushy suburb north of the City.  But I am getting a little ahead of myself.

Click the link below to experience a video compilation I created. "Relive" is a fun app, that when you have it installed and activated with a membership, it can track your entire journey, then plot it on a map after, allowing you to add pictures and details for a memorable video. Be sure to toggle the sound ON and go full screen.

  

Relive - Illinois to Bayfield

While looking for things to do within a few hundred miles geographic circle, I discovered that we had not yet visited Bayfield, Wisconsin, and experienced the Apostle Islands. Well, let's correct that.

I consider this to be the prettiest picture of our journey.

*I need to finish the posting*