A Most Miserable Day

I hate it that falconry is filled with these ups and downs.  I don't want to give up hope, but at least this is one more forum where this can be reported.

LOST - Female Red-Tailed Hawk, Krider's color morph, wearing leg band number RO107178.  She is wearing a transmitter which should have about a 14 mile radius, beeping on frequency 216.066.  Batteries are brand new, and should last about 10 days.  Last seen approximately 1 pm on Saturday, October 15, 2011.

We took her to the park here in my little town of Spring Grove.  She was doing great, coming when called, quickly.  We relayed her a couple times, then I had Justin take the creance off.  She continued to come to him, no problem.  I then had him move towards the woods at the edge of the park.  She took a tree, and almost immediately started hunting.  Within 5 minutes, she was chasing a squirrel.  We pursued that squirrel for around 10 minutes before it was lost in a brush pile.  Justin called her back, and we moved across the park to where there was an open grove of oak trees, which have lots of squirrels.  Almost immediately, she engaged another squirrel.  We helped by whooping and hollaring, and whacking the tree . . . . and she caught it.  I though GREAT!  But then as she should have kited down to the ground, instead she caught a wind, and surfed down the slope, into the valley where there is a creek.  We lost sight of her as she flew up the creek, among some thick tree cover.  We then began the searching.  We never saw where she came down to ground.  Surely she did, to eat her dinner.  But where she went after that . . . we don't know.  We spent the next several hours walking back and forth in the valley, and I got my telemetry out, but got no signal.  I've spent the rest of the day and into the night making greater and greater circles out of Spring Grove, hoping to catch a signal.  Nothing!!  :-(

We had a fairly stiff wind out of the North West today, which would have taken her South and East, towards Iowa, then Wisconsin, across the Mississippi River.  She is a beautiful bird!  She is a good gamehawk.  And she is my apprentice's first bird.  I feel really bad about her loss . . . but he did everything he was supposed to.

I realize this forum is not a great place to advertise, but I'm posting it here nonetheless.  I've also placed a notice on NAFA, and will ask the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa Clubs if they could hopefully post a bird missing report.

If you spot, or hear any report of this bird, please e-mail at either ladyhawker65@yahoo.com or phoenixfirefalconry@yahoo.com.  Sorry . . . not posting my cell phone number here for any bots to find, then bug me to death with calls.  I'll check e-mail often.