Second Squirrel of the Season at the Community Garden

I was able to take Balaa out for another adventure, this time at the Community Garden in Rochester. It is usually known to have bunnies. We did flush several, but my girl is showing the tendency to take a distance perch, and is somewhat solo hunting. I may be flying her a bit too high, but sometimes have many days between windows to hunt, so have been siding with keeping her well fed instead of hunt sharp. 

As we worked the frozen marsh to kick up rabbits, she went after a squirrel in a tree just the other side of the creek.  She caught it!  However, that then required me to get to the other side to get her.  Thankfully, prior to our frozen season getting going, we were relatively dry, so our creeks froze at a low level. I could not get up over the other bank, but Seneca was on her squirrel close enough that I could reach up and grab her, and drag both her second squirrel catch with me and her off the edge, and tip toe over the ice back to the side I was on. 

When I loaded this clip up on YouTube, I guess now if you select it to be "public" they automatically put it into rotation on their shorts. It got a whole lot of views, which was not my intention. Some "helpful" yahoo out there commented that "that is not how you hold a hawk, you are going to hurt her." Well, I was not holding the hawk, I'm holding the squirrel. She's holding the squirrel, and could let go at any time if she wanted. I'll make sure to tag those short videos as private, to keep unsolicited comments to a minimum. 

An Afternoon with Balaa

 

Over the month of December my friend Foxfeather had a visitor from Seattle, one of her dear friends Anna, known as Balaa. She was game to go out hawking a couple times with Seneca and me, and kick the brush for us.

On the afternoon of these pictures, I selected a place right in the heart of Rochester that I have not visited for many years. It is now an abandoned building, and the bunnies have taken over the place. We flushed so many, but Seneca was not following particulary closely, so we didn't get to see a close up show.  When it came time to pack it in, and me call her down to the lure, she did not respond. I could faintly hear her bells, so followed that lead. I found her on the ground, well tucked into a bunny she caught that we did not see at all.

I let Balaa hold her, as that is something I know folks who love wild animals, especially raptors, like to do if they get a chance. I know I wanted to do just that prior to getting my first falconry bird.

Balaa took these pictures and was kind enough to share them with me for the blog.

THANKS BALAA!!

First Squirrel

 

Today is Thanksgiving, and I am oh so very thankful to have this wonderful bird as a falconry partner.

We planned for just a little extra time to fly her before we had to join the family for the big meal. I decided we would hit up Sprague Woods in Caledonia, as we have not been there yet this year. I almost faltered in this decision as we were on our way, and almost sidetracked to another very small place we often can pop a bunny or two out of. However, the falconry gods gave me a sign that I should forego the easy choice and continue with the more challenging Woods. The "sign" was a pair of bald eagles sitting in the trees right over the small brushy place. Sure, I know they would probably have bumped as soon as we stopped and got out of the car, but I'd like to believe something urged me to go for the harder challenge. 

As we drove up into the place where we park, two squirrels were on the road, and scampered off into the woods were we would start. Good Sign!  I set an alarm as I only allowed us a half hour window so we would not be late. When I released Seneca she was all business, and took to the high tree tops immediately. She followed well, then began to move out in front of us. We circled around this small woods, and about 20 minutes in she came diving into a nearby tree, and smacked her first squirrel. As she came down, she glided off deeper into the woods. However, it's not that big of a place, so she did not go far.

After passing through a barb wired fence, and getting my coat snagged, I came to her where she was trying to hide her squirrel under a downed tree. She had the whole situation under control, like she's been hunting squirrels her whole life. This is the first one she has taken with me. What she was doing before last year, I don't know, but I am so very happy to add this quarry to her check-off list.

It has been just about the perfect day. We made the lunch on time, and had a really nice afternoon with his family.

I am enjoying so very much hunting with this girl!!

Out With A Photographer

Today we took a photographer out to capture a few pictures for a local publication profile that will be published next week. We got super lucky, and had a quick successful hunt. These pictures are from Rich's camera. I'll link the article once it is published.

It's truly great when you do a profile about falconry, and are actually successful demonstrating the sport.
 

Acrobatics

 

Today was just a workout, for all players in this game. The bird did more flying and diving than she normally does. I did my usual plodding around. Even the rabbits got some unplanned exercise. At the end of it all, lunch (for the hawk) was just some rat that I brought into the field with us. It was a well-earned meal, if not the preferred target. However, I did get to see, and hear, quite a few attempts in some very deep grass. Several of Seneca's attempts were beautiful examples of Red Tailed Hawk acrobatics. 

I was hunting alone today, not taking any pictures in the field, and the GoPro is currently attached to my bal chatri, just in case I see a passage hawk I want to try and trap while out and about in my car. Soon, very soon, I will take all the trapping gear out of my car. The rat smell, even when I keep them clean, can be a little overwhelming sometimes in the small confines of a car. I briefly thought about taking a picture of Sunday's hunting spot with my cell phone prior to leaving, but was ready to be done for the day, so didn't. Instead, I'm going with Google Maps. The picture above looks like maybe very late winter, after the snow but before the green. It is deceptive, because it looks so very easy to traverse, but that is far from the truth. It is a lot of very thick grasses, uneven ground, some raspberry vine, with the occasional tree. In a wet year, it can even have areas of standing water, but it has been dry of late, mostly, so no puddles to slog through.

Seneca was at a good weight. She has been flown a little leaner, but she seemed intent at her slightly higher weight. As soon as I released her, she took a tree, then relocated herself in the opposite direction I wanted to work the field, into an area I would have preferred she not go. There are many places I hunt that are just waste spaces between buildings and businesses. Some of these locations I only go to on a Sunday, when everything is closed. This is one of those places. Following her lead would take me a little closer to a private home, but the deep grass mostly masked my presence. 

I made my way in her direction, kicking up a couple bunnies I never saw but could hear. They made their way with haste to a large pile of branches and roots under the big tree she had flown to. No amount of whacking or stepping on these giant piles (we call them "bunny palaces") will pop a bunny out. I tried to lead her back to the other direction of the field. While doing so, I got to see for the first time by this bird what we call a "Wing Over". She left her tall tree perch and flew out over the lake of grass, then folded her wings and suddenly dropped vertically into the waves. Her timing must have been off, for no bunny was caught. When you witness an attempt at a slip, you stop and wait, listening either for a bunny wail that it has been caught, or for the bird to not come back up. Shortly she was back up. She did fly to the area of the field I wanted her at, but didn't stay there, missing a couple of kicked up rabbits right after she left. 

The next 15 minutes or so are always the kind of harrowing hawking events you will experience at some point with your bird. It can be quite distressing for new falconers, less so with someone that has been flying 20 years. I just realized that 2022 marks 20 years of falconry for me! With it only being me in the field, there was not more than one set of eyes watching where she went. With my head down watching where I was walking, I did not see her move from the tree I had last seen her fly to, to where she relocated. I thought for sure she might have taken a rabbit in the deep grass. I would have to find her quickly, before she had eaten her fill, then took to a tree. A full hawk is one that will not respond to a lure. I was led only by an occasional tink from her bells, which I could not get a direction from. 

It was a perfect hawking day. Temperature was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The sky was clear, with no wind. I moved across to where I had last seen her, would stop occasionally and listen. Falconry bells are specifically made to ring with only the slightest movement of the bird. If she was on the ground with prey, the movement of her feet would have made for multiple opportunities for the bells to target her, but if she was in thick grass, or worse, had dragged her catch underneath something, which hawks like to do, I would have a harder time finding her. I would move, then stand silent listening. The tension of the moment is some of the thrill, I think. Falconry often is problem solving. After circling back around the very ground I had covered just before, a single tink turned me to find her sitting way behind me in a tree line she had not been to yet. She had probably been there the whole time. Just watching.  

I was able to encourage her to finally move in the direction I had wanted all along, mostly by kicking up several bunnies. She would then follow me closer, which is what she should have been doing all along. She would crash the brush several times with a force that sounds almost painful, but every time "Bugs" slipped just out of her reach.  We had been in the field over an hour, and had moved through most of it, stirring the rabbit population. She had gotten far more flying in than she normally does. I had gotten far more plodding than I normally do. I was ready to call it.  She responded quickly to the lure, and we packed it in.

At the start of our season we had several successful flights in succession. In the last couple weeks I have had a few skunked days. I'll cut and paste another event that happened recently, but which I had only posted on FB. Adding game to the freezer is the goal, but actually, it is taking the time to go out with your bird, so she may exercise, and pursue the behaviors normal for her species. Falconry allows us to watch it all with a front row seat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let’s all give a round of applause for Dave Noble bells!! My bird flew off from where I tried to hunt today. As soon as I released her, the football team showed up at the park. She checked out. Telemetry was no help. It was the bells that helped me to find her, on the other side of the park, far from all the people. She was about 40 grams higher than the food I gave her when she came to the lure. Must have caught a mouse, or something. Thank goodness nothing big, to crop up on, ‘cuz I found her in super thick brush. Fun Fun!! 

This was a pretty catch, right out in the open. Too bad we didn't have the GoPro along for the hunt. 

Vacation Ends

October is my usual month to take my two-week vacation. It coincides with the start of falconry season, and the red-tailed hawk migration is usually in full swing. This year was no exception. Only this year, I also had the pleasure to host my childhood friend, Kathy, at my home. I was a guest in her home back in May. 

As I write this, it is the morning of Friday, 10/28.  I return to work tonight. I have so enjoyed the freedom of the last two-and-a-half weeks with little to no structure to my days, but know the structure of having a job to go to actually provides a bit of stability and framework to my activities.  I'm not ready to retire, either financially, or emotionally. I'd probably spend way too much time on the computer and social media. On this last morning, as I write, it is still dark outside. I'll write a few lines, post some links for my memories, then get my morning going before I assume my routine in preparation for return to work.  I'd like to take my hawk out for a quick hunt, as I have had the pleasure to fly her every other day on my vacation. Work weekends do not allow for any time to do much else than work and sleep.

I flew her twice when Kathy visited, and of course we flushed nothing so she caught nothing. On a quick hunt after her visit, she added a bunny to the bag. Ah well, Kathy enjoyed just meeting her and seeing her fly.

I love these early to late fall days, prior to the snow arriving. We've also had some rather warm days here in October. That will surely change soon. 

So, for my memories, here is a posting from the Relive App I've been using quite a bit lately of the trip Kathy and I took up to Ely, Minnesota and the International Wolf Center.  I may come back later to post some pictures, or not. It just depends on if I can find the time.

 North Woods with Riverdale

While she visited, we also coordinated and had dinner with Shawn (an agreed upon meet up we said we would do between him, me and Richard), who now has a "lady friend". It was a nice dinner for all, and good to see he is coping well with the changes in his life.

I was able to show Kathy a little hawk trapping. In fact, I caught a very nice video of the whole thing, which I will post here on my mostly falconry blog, but will not toggle as a public video.  If you are here and find it, then you already know all about my falconry activities. I've wanted to catch a nice, crisp video of the action. The bird in this case certainly took its sweet time giving me content. Click and watch it full screen over at YouTube. It's worth it. Really!

And finally, I did make a Relive video of the trapping, so here it is.

Relive 'Hawk Trapping Third Try, & Fun With Kathy'

OK, that's all I have time for at this hour. I will get my butt up off this computer chair and go get some stuff done, and be prepared to take my bird flying this morning before settling down for my "reboot nap" and resumption of my work life routine. Life is also going to become all that much more complicated because if all goes well, this little Tasmanian Devil is going to enter our lives next week.

Oh boy . . . . . . 

Let's Get This Season (2022/23) Going

 

Beginning in September I have started to bring Seneca's weight down. She's a rather goodly sized hawk to begin with, and I did feed her well over the summer molt.  Towards the middle of the summer I moved her outside, and made an adjustment to her tethering system, which allowed her to fly back and forth in her 10 x 20 weathering yard. I think this began strengthening her and helping her to lose the molt weight. With just a couple weeks of washed beef heart, tall jump ups, and fasting days, we achieved a response weight, not surprisingly higher than last year.

Over the last week, which is the first of my usual October vacation, I have gotten her out on three hunts, with two being successful.  The middle hunt she was 50 grams over the weight I have come to expect good response, and to be fair, she had a rather aggressive juvenile hawk challenge her to the space we were flying in (Community Garden in Rochester). It's a good space for a hawk to hunt in, so reasonable for the wild bird to defend it.

She is staying closer to me than last year, but still doesn't quite understand to move with me as I work the brush.  We'll work on that.  Temps this week have now dropped into the hard freeze zone overnight, so weight control becomes a bit easier.

We have a much-anticipated guest arriving this week.  My childhood friend, Kathy, is coming to visit us. I look forward to showing her a bit of Minnesota and sharing my passion with falconry.

Quick Door County/Wisconsin Run Around

Going on a long out-of-town trip this fall just wasn't in the cards. However, I still needed a quick out-of-town trip.  Door County is not that far away, and is usually quite nice in the fall.  I've been there before on two previous trips, in 2007 by myself, and again in 2016, with Rich. I think, after this last trip, that I am kinda "Door County Outed" now. I've seen what it has to offer, and should explore other places for vacation. Other than allowing for a whole heck of a lot more days and crossing over to Washington Island and spending time there, I think I'm DONE with the DOOR. Still, we did have a pleasant few days together on the journey between Monday, September 19 to Thursday, the 22nd.  

I used this long trip to try out a new App that my friend Darla showed me, and which I think she learned from my other friend Sharon. It allows you to record your tracked path via GPS and Cell technology. You can then attach pictures and pin points along your trip. It turns out to be a very fun way to remember a road trip by.  Here is the one I put together for this adventure.  The App is called Relive.

Relive - Quick Door County/Wisconsin Run Around

I worked the entire previous weekend. No amount of cajoling or uber organizing my work tasks would allow me to escape from work early. I could have taken an attendance hit, but it was not that important to get on our journey early, other than my wanting to take a nap. Rich was going to do the driving, and I could snooze in the car, which is exactly what I did. I would go on to have my sleep/wake schedule completely messed up for the entire trip. I was out for the count most nights by 7 pm, waking up around 2 am. At least two out of three mornings I had someplace I could retreat and not disturb Rich as he slept.

My goal for the first night was an AirBNB along Lake Michigan. My searching located the Forst Inn. This was an incredibly quaint lodging in which I had a very comfortable nights rest.  If you like old houses with creaky wood floor character, soft and sweet-smelling sheets and feather down comforter cozy, antique-like or maybe real antique furniture, and reading/coffee drinking nooks with surprise books, this place is definitely for you. Add to it a full theatre and pub downstairs, and the package is complete.  The evening we were there the actors were gathered to practice an upcoming production, which we listened to in the adjoining sitting room with an alcoholic beverage from the bar.  I imagine this would be a very pleasant night out when there is a play, and neighboring community gathered at the pub.

There is a deck to sit out on while you wait for your play to start. Or just soak up the evening ambiance.   

A little rubber duckie was a gift from the host. I would later inquire if it had any significance. He said "No", just a nice little touch he has added to the experience.

Here is a panoramic of the room we stayed in, the Mary and William Room. There are only two rooms upstairs. The corner with lamp and chair was nice to sip coffee in the morning when I woke long before Rich, and after a hot shower in the shared bathroom. We did depart early as I wanted to catch the sunrise over Lake Michigan.

The sunrise was beautiful! A fast moving thunder storm was tracking into the region. There was some dramatic lightning displays on the horizon which I did not catch on record.  The rain would pass over the area quickly, with a pleasant fall day to follow.

When in Door County, or at least almost there in Sturgeon Bay, you have to do pastry!  It is just one of the things you do when you go there. I located a tasty source for pastry and breakfast at Scaturos. After a hearty skillet, we grabbed sweets for the road.

Mmmmmm . . . doesn't that look good?  It tasted as good as it looks!

Our first stop was Cave Point County Park.  It was still a bit morning and fast moving thunderstorm cold and windy. We walked around for a little bit, mostly by ourselves, with only one other set of people come for a morning walk, and took pictures.  I'm always impressed by the first experience at this location. When you depart your car you see Northern pine forest all around, yet you hear and feel the sound of ocean.  The Great Lakes are so vast they are inland seas.  There is significant tidal action, and you feel the waves crashing against the shore through your feet long before you actually come to the shore.

This shore has a rather impressive drop-off.

After our walk the cherry turnover was wonderful!

Just a couple of contemplative glancing off the cliff pictures.

Door County, Wisconsin is all of about 45 miles from stem to stern, if you were making a sailing vessel analogy.  The microclimate of this peninsula is perfect for the growing of cherries and apples, which is the major crop produced. It is also the focus of a lot of the tourism of this vacation destination. Oh, and there are lots of bays where lake-going vessels are docked. It's a pretty drive!  

We spent the day driving up the Door, stopping at all the little villages on the West side.  Our goal was to make it to Gills Rock where our second nights lodging was booked. At our destination, we ducked into the Charlies Smokehouse where we bought some cherry ice cream and enjoyed it on the back deck overlooking one of the ferries that transport people to Washington Island. By this time all the morning clouds had cleared out, for a beautiful fall day in the sunshine. Rich bought a new hat to add to his rather extensive collection, I bought some smoked white fish and lake perch for enjoying later, which turned out to be when we got back home. Across the street I bought a hand thrown ceramic mug to add to my own kitschy collection.

Mmmmmm . . . Cherry Ice Cream!

Our second night was booked at Harborlight Inn. It's an older place but has been tastefully updated.  An added bonus was a community room where I was able to retreat to after I woke up (again) at 2 am on Wednesday morning. I found supplies to make a mug of hot tea, and knitted while waiting for a more reasonable hour to go wake Rich up.  

The community room had a nautical theme. I knitted in silence that morning, as I had not brought my power cord for my cell phone, and was charging it with my car. That morning my power level was low, so I optimized silent knitting.

My current knitting project is just experimenting with a lace pattern. It's something you can work on without much brain effort, and does not take up much storage space, for easy transport. Soon I may start a new major project. 

But, I am getting ahead of myself.  That Tuesday late afternoon, after settling our things into our room for the night, we headed back down the Door to enjoy one of the iconic tourist attractions, a fish boil. Just click on the link if you want to read about these tasty dinners. I have done a boil every time I have come to Door County. On this evening I even found a Snapple flavor suited to my element.

The boil over is the most dramatic part of this dinner/show.

Good Food!  I Love Fish!!  The is Good Fish!

Cherry Pie to top off the night. There is no better way to end a Door County dinner.

After dinner we drove back up to our evening lodgings, and watched the sun go down over Green Bay.  Such days make for great memories.

At an appropriate hour, after knitting and drinking tea in the community room, I returned to find Rich up and having a shower. I wanted to get onto the road, as we had an appointment to keep that afternoon in Ashland, and needed to cover some miles to keep our date.  We stopped in Sister's Bay at Al Johnsons Swedish Restaurant for breakfast. It's the famous restaurant with "the goats on the roof". The goats had not yet arrived that morning, as we were there at 7 am when they opened for business. My own goats at home are rather lazy beasts, and do not get up early.

Only Scandinavian cut-out goats were to be found this morning.

Swedish pancakes are in order, with Lingonberries, of course!  Oh, and Swedish Meatballs.

On our way out the door I found a friend to take a picture with.

For most of the rest of that day we drove across Northern Wisconsin. It is mostly forested land, lakes for fishing and recreation, hunting.  Our goal was to come to Ashland, where I had an appointment to meet a possible dog adoption. Well, the picture on Petfinder did not reflect the dog. He was far bigger and much more out of control that what the picture portrayed. In fact, he even bit me. No skin breaking, but still, teeth application is not polite. It was a 'no go' for me.  

Our last night's lodging was at a small hotel just outside of Superior. It has the appearance of an older motor lodge from days gone by, but has been maintained and recently upgraded. In fact, while we were there some new insulation was being squirted into the walls. We got dinner down the road at a local bar. Sadly, no steak (I would have liked one) but they did have a very juicy hamburger.

The next day was Rich-focused in Duluth.

It is somewhat of an ongoing joke with me and Rich, and the "Big Dumb Boat" in Duluth. He has wanted to see the SS Meteor for quite some time. Whenever we have been up in Duluth, it has either been too tight a schedule to see it, closed, or my not really being interested. For this little trip, I decided to put it on the schedule. The web site even said there were tour times on that Thursday. Well, the web site lied. Normally it may have had tours, but staffing has been an issue with everyone, and I guess if there is not enough interest, no tours are conduced, except on the weekends, and we could not overstay to do that. So, yet again, the Meteor eludes our efforts to see it. I'll endeavor in the not too distant future (next year or two) to make sure Rich gets to see this darn thing. 

Duluth has more than one "Big Dumb Boat" to see. The USS William A. Irvin was open for tours. We went and walked through her.

Duluth has a long history as a port city, as well as a shipyard where new vessels are manufactured, however I can not find any information to indicate this industry is still alive in the area. It is a tourist destination if you want to watch many of the large freighters come in and out of the channel, and I know they have a Tall Ships Festival of Sail every few years, and other celebrations of all things sailing ships. 

The William A. Irvin is retired now, and a museum. She was unique in that she had a couple levels of posh accommodations where muckety-mucks in the steel industry could catch free voyages with their wives and sail from Chicago in comfort while the ship was delivering cargo back and forth.

Below is the sitting room above the suites where the captain of the vessel could entertain his guests. The picture on the wall is of Mr. Irvin, who was president of US Steel.

The rooms were rather nice, in a 1930's kind of way, with their oak and walnut veneer.

Rich and I steering the ship.  Good thing it is permanently moored!

After walking around the William A. Irvin, we did visit the site of the SS Meteor. We walked around it and took in as much as we could without laying foot on the deck.

Poor Rich, so disappointed he still can't see the darn thing.

Yup, no tour for him today. Thumbs down on the tourist experience.

As we drove away from the experience, stopping at a KwikTrip prior to heading home, an appropriate song played on my Pandora.  I recorded a little teasing song for Rich.  Don't Stop Believing my man!  Some day you'll get to see your "Big Dumb Boat".