Networking - Connections

One of the aspects of falconry that I enjoy and appreciate is the opportunity it often gives me to make contacts in my community, and to build bridges with new people.  

Two years ago . . . was it only two years (?) . . . I was fortunate to make the acquaintance of Molly, on the left in the picture above.  She is one of the instructors at the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center just outside Lanesboro, and also caretaker to that facilities' education ambassadors.  She has given me the opportunity to fly my birds on the grounds of the Center, and this year set up a bow netting station there.  The site for the bow netting turned out to not really be very good.  I did attract in the resident red tail, a canny old formel (new term not yet in full usage out in the falconry or naturalist circles, to describe a female red tail), who proceeded to just observe my lure pigeon but never engaged. Ah well, it gave me the chance to show Anna what a bow netting trapping set up looks like.   

Molly is quite interested in falconry and may pursue her license at some not too distant date.  Yesterday I invited her to go on a hunt with Wyvern and myself.  We went to one of my sites just outside Rushford which is usually pretty good for several rabbit slips.  We did have several, but it was quite warm, and Wyvern is still a bit high in weight, so we did not continue with our trend of catching game each hunt. It was a nice day out hawking.  But what I did "catch" was something much better!  Molly introduced me to Abby, who is an employee at the Featherstone Farm CSA that is in and around the Rushford area.  Check them out if you would be interested in a farm share of quality grown organic produce. There is a brushy lot I have been interested in, and she knows the owner . . . who is also the owner of the CSA. She will introduce me!  Perhaps I may be so lucky as to get access to several new places where Wyvern, or some of my other birds, could remove some environmental pests (rabbits, mice) who may otherwise be munching on the organic produce.

Thanks Molly!  And Thanks Abby!

This is the outlook of the bow netting station.  The view is nice, but there just isn't much "traffic" of hawks flowing through.