We took Yogi out to a spot on the ranch that we had hunted her before. unfortunately we only found one Jack in our hunt. Its pretty scarce here. She did almost catch it however, so we were encouraged.
It snowed, (hard to believe, but that isn't a typo.) Tuesday we took her to Arock to see if we could get her jump started. There was about an 1 1/4 of snow there, so we could get a good idea of how many Jacks there are in that area. We found that there was a decent population there, but she could not make a connection. They are flushing pretty far ahead, and when they see her coming they hide, and she still doesn't know how to counter that. We did get one good close slip, and she was within inches of catching him, but in the end we went home empty handed.
We will be going out again tomorrow. Hopefully we can get one for her then.
I have been flying Jessie on the kite when the winds cooperate. Our last trip on the kite was with a 10 MPH wind, and it took her exactly one minute to climb 450 feet to grab the lure. I began to give Jess some pigeon to build some muscle and I of course over did it a bit, so I wasted one night compensating to get her weight back down a bit. Then there was two different days that we had to go to town, once for food and the other for Karen's 2000 mile check up. Then of course we had at least two days of really nasty weather.
Jessie has been pretty positive and trying to encourage me to pick her up. Some times I just can't, due to other commitments or the weather. I thought today was going to be another one of those weather days. The wind this morning was really howling, and spitting rain. However at 2:30 it just died. So I wasted no time in picking her up and heading over to the ranch.
I had weakened last week and took her over to a little pond there that had a "pile" of Ducks on it. When I flushed she knocked a hen Mallard into the greasewood.
Apparently a Teal chickened out and also dove into the Greasewood to escape the threat. She flew up as Jessie was turning to come back, and flew into the pond in front of me. Jessie was still a bit weak and landed on a post by the pond. While she was regaining her strength the Mallard recovered enough to fly off. The Teal of course managed to weasel out and escape, so we went home frustrated. At least Jess was.
Jess was begging to be picked up this evening, so I weighed her and found that she was well within her operating range. Karen was in the process of some desert making, so I loaded her in the car and we went to see what today would bring.
There was still a lull in the weather, but it was easy to see that it was going to deteriorate soon.
The storms were just to the west of us and moving in. Tami was held up by school lessons for Thayen, so it was Jess and me. A good number for success. Success is limited by the number of witnesses, the more people the more likely that the bird will take that opportunity to make you look like a liar.
When Tami and I had come back from hunting Yogi, we saw a female Prairie Falcon sitting in one of the trees. I told Tami at the time that she would be a pain in the butt for Jessie, and would most likely ruin at least one flight until Jessie kicked her butt enough to make her move on.
As I neared the pond, I turned Jessie loose and walked on to the pond, in an attempt to let her get what ever altitude that she wanted, and not be tempted to flush early. As I was walking I was watching her, then I could see the Prairie coming to give battle. They are cranky at best and have a tendency to not want to share hunting areas, even on migration. Jessie is not confrontational, but does not take kindly to rude behavior. If pushed she can and will kick their butt. They cannot match her for speed or climb. When the confrontation finally comes about they generally move on.
The Prairie was getting close, but Jess was in position, so I rushed the pond, flushing the Ducks. Jessie whacked a Gadwall and drove him into the Greasewood. She wasted no time in turning around and going in after him. The Prairie Disappeared. It took me about 10 minutes to find Jessie and the Duck, but finally I heard it flapping its wings, trying to get away.
I offered to help her, but she threatened to attack me, so I just stood back and let her handle it. If it had been a Mallard she would have accepted the offer. She really didn't need any help as she had it around the neck, and the head soon fell off.
She loves to pluck, it seems like some sort of necessary behavior for falcons and they are really a bit unsatisfied if they are given bare food. I was quite content to let her make as much of a mess as she wanted.
As you can tell from the mess, she had a good time. You can also see what she likes the most on a Duck- the Fat! By this time she had relaxed enough that I could snap a leash on her. I let her eat until she stepped off the Duck.
This is what the Greasewood looks like. All of it is sharp needles and they all fester when you get stabbed with one. Unfortunately the pond is ringed with this stuff.
