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.
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