Official opening of the 2012 Hawking season

I finally got the two Harris Hawks out of the mews, and back onto their perches. I began to despair of Puddy getting down enough to come to the fist, but after 6 days of no food, she began to see the light. Once she was out, and jessed up, it all came back to her, and she has done much better than I expected. The first evening I fed her enough of a meal to bring her back up a bit, and when I took her into the shop to put her on her night perch, she attempted to fly to it as if she had always been sleeping there. I put her on the creance (restraining line) to see if she would come to the fist, and she never hesitated. The lure, when presented, was greeted with vigour, and she even came to me after she finished the food on it. All in all, I could have flown her free yesterday.

Yogi, after a slow start, decided yesterday that she remembered what Rabbits were, and wanted one. John Hauck and I took her for a walk late last evening and she made her first real attempt at catching a Rabbit. She almost pulled it off on two of them, slamming into the ground and the bushes trying hard. I didn't feed her very much, planning on teaming her with Puddy today.

I also turned Jessie loose for the first time yesterday. I am unable to obtain helium due to the shortage of said product, so I am left with nothing but a kite for an exercise aid. The wind does not blow here in Sept and most of October, so my only recourse is to just turn her loose and hope that she doesn't wander. She flew around at about 50 feet and put in about four circles before going to a rock ledge to rest. After she regained her strength, she came well enough to the lure and was really quite well mannered, coming to me after she finished her lure food.

Today when I turned Jessie loose, all of the weakness that I had seen yesterday was gone, and she started cranking up into the sky. When she went through 400 feet, I decided that I needed a pigeon for her, so I ran to the loft and grabbed the first one that hesitated long enough for me to catch it. By the time that I got back she had taken it up to about 600 feet, so I yelled and tossed. She folded up and put in a sizzling stoop, She would have killed herself if she had hit it at the speed she was going. Pigeons are not easy for a falcon to hit on the first stoop. She put in a couple of half hearted passes at the lure and then went to rest on her rock again. After a while she recovered enough to fly again and capture the lure. Again she did well, so I fed her a bit more this time. I will probably not feed her tomorrow, but she is ready to catch ducks. This is the first time in years that I have been ready before the duck season has opened.

Then it was time for the HH to make their presence known to the local Jack populations. Karen and John Hauck went with me today. Karen was handling Yogi, while I had Puddy. We went to the fence by the hack tower and found that there were two Jacks just on the other side of the fence. We finally crossed the fence, and one of them busted and the girls were after it. It eluded their efforts, and they sat on the bushes after their miss. Yogi was staring at a bush between her and us, when all of a sudden she took off and slammed into a bush just 20 feet in front of us. We were all surprised and gratified to hear the sound of a Jack Rabbit in pain. Yogi had taken her first Jack of the year. She had it by the head with one foot on one side of the main stem, and the other on the head on the other side. Puddy stayed back, which surprised me a bit. I killed the Jack and gave Yogi a front leg. Karen walked Puddy on down the field in an attempt to find another Jack.

When Yogi finished her leg, we joined them and continued on our hunt. After a bit we jumped a couple more Jacks, but they both missed. We began walking down towards the fence at the lower end of our field. Both birds took off, but we saw nothing. They landed on the fence posts. I walked to the area that Puddy had dipped a wing at as she flew by, and jumped a hiding Jack. Puddy was off and in hot pursuit, slamming into the ground and skittering on her butt when she missed her grab. Yogi had been in flight as Puddy missed and she put on a burst of speed and rolled the Jack. Puddy this time came in and slammed into the Jacks head. When I got there Yogi was lying on her back, stretched out by the Jacks hind legs. I was finally able to kill the Jack and distribute front legs to both of them. When they finished their appetisers, we gave them hind legs to finish their meal, from a Jack that I had shot earlier for food.

Quite a day. I flew for an hour and forty five minutes this morning, Jessie flew well, and Yogi put two Rabbit tails on her 2012 game string. The only glitch was that I forgot my camera. Oh well pobody's nefrect!

Birthday Flight

Tammy's middle daughter Grace turned 13 today, and it was my pleasure to take her for her first flight in my plane, "Dart"

 We"shoe horned" into Dart and taxied up to the hill to warm up. 

 We took off and did a fly by for Mom.

 https://vimeo.com/49812874 will take you to the video of the flight. As is normal the password is
owyheeflyer

 It would appear that she enjoyed her first flight in an experimental.

 It is that time of the year again. The fall falconry season is about to begin. All of my birds are just completing their molts and for the most part have new "clothes" to begin the year with. The Harris' will soon be on a diet to get their weights down to a manageable response. Yogi would hunt as fat as she is now, but just not as hard as when she is trimmed down to her "fighting" weight. This year has fostered a "boom" in the increase of Jack Rabbits. They are every where! I counted 23 on the back lawn last night, and 12 on the front lawn. That does not include the ones gathered around the hay stack or out in the front pasture. It has been a source of frustration to Yogi to watch all the Jacks parading in front of her enclosure every day and night.

Jessie will have most of this month left to her leisure, as the Duck season will not begin until the first week of October. It is much too hot to hunt now anyway.

As you can see from the above picture Tami has now acquired her new partner for the year. Things have been very hectic here this year. The fires threw every thing off. Of course all the ranch necessities suffered as well. The drought has dried up almost all of the traditional water holes and springs in the surrounding hills, causing havoc with the livestock. How this will affect the wildlife has yet to be seen. It has certainly cut into Tami's time, as the family has spent almost all the summer in the hills moving the livestock to water that is healthy. Then when things seemed to be settling down, all the fires started popping up. Perhaps with September arriving, things can get as close to normal as they ever get in this country.

Kestrels have been in short supply here for some reason. There was a nesting pair over at the ranch, but they dispersed long ago. No one was there to see them either grow up or leave. For whatever reason, Kestrels seem to be on the decline in most areas. We wanted to get a female this year for her to fly. The primary reason is that Jasper is still here at the house. He has claimed this area as his personal territory. This has pleased both of us very much. He still hunts birds, when the Mice are a bit scarce. He sleeps inside one of my wind socks at night.

The reason we wanted a female is that it is more likely that Jasper will tolerate a female sharing what he thinks is his sole domain, and hopefully when we release her later in the year, they will form a pair, that will both claim this territory as their own and hopefully nest here next year.

The last that I heard Tami intends to call this one Alice. She is a bit on the small side, but she makes up for it with attitude. She showed more determination than any of the males that we have attempted to catch in the past. Tami managed to get some food down her the first night, but she had to wear gloves to do it, as Alice seemed to prefer the taste of Tami's blood to the Sparrow being offered. 

Temporary work?

I have just spent the last week working as a Water Tender driver. It has been an interesting experience to say the least. Perfect examples of how things should not be done comes to mind.

It all came about last Sunday. I had just returned from the flight to Rome and Jordan Creek. A very satisfying flight in more ways than one. I had tried to get a video of the Jordan Creek Canyon at least three times before, and had malfunctions each time. This time I finally got it, and the video was good, if not a little over exposed. No matter, the camera performed perfectly, there was a minimum of harmonics in it, and I survived it as well.

Karen had called on the radio while I was still in Rome with a teaser about a question that she had. Well when I got on the ground, the question was "Do you want a job"?  Wellllllllll, maybe?

An acquaintance that owns a piece of property just below us up the Creek works for a fire contractor and was unable to take said job, and had offered to find a substitute for him. I still had my CDL (commercial drivers license) and since it was less than 8 miles down the road, and likely to be of short duration, it sounded pretty good. I could always use some new toys, or pay for the ones that I just bought. The pay was good, and the duration short, so what could be better?

I just finished seven 12 hour work days, and quite frankly was quite happy that they didn't need me any more. Don't get me wrong, it was fun in a way, and I did have the use of the water truck to wet down my runway. I needed that in the worst way with all those planes at the fly-in going up and down. The rocks had a general coming out party with all that traffic.

As you may remember we just finished with the "Long Draw" fire that burned 850,000 or so acres, give or take a few thousand. Then we had the "Haboob". Now we had the "Holloway" fire which was the stuff on the south end of the Long draw fire that didn't burn during the first one. In essence the entire Malheur County south of us is one big ash heap. This one was about 450,000 acres.

The reason for my job was to supply water to a portable Phos-Chek fire retardant supply point for the heli's to dump retardant on the fire to stop it. The product is great stuff. We set up the trailer that mixes the stuff, and waited for the heli's to come in and pick it up.

 This is the mixing station

 This is the product.

This is a Pumpkin, that the water that I haul is stored in, and in 

behind are the storage tanks that the finished product is stored in.

Here is the spot on Crooked Creek that I was drafting water from.

The truck holds 4000 gallons of water and can suck that up in 15 mins.

 This is the way it is picked up.

Of course it was a great plan, but as usual there were too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

It took four days to get a port a potty, and the mix boss had to go down to the base camp and for all intents and purposes- steal it and bring it up to the camp in his own truck. This of course triggered an exhibit of sarcasm, that is likely to end up on the pages of a "Phos-chek" company calender for next year.

With the exception of the intense work involved in setting the thing up so they could use it to fight fire, the rest of the time was spent sleeping, reading, and waiting for the knuckle heads to use us for what we were intended for.

About the only excitement was a road trip to truck two trucks full of the "product" (retardant) down to a ranch south of us to fill a "pumpkin" so that they could use it to protect a transmission line. Then it was back to reading, listening to one of the guys that must have been 150 years old. He droned on and on, almost driving me crazy. He of course was from California. His email was "toocool" Who would have thought it. He was as good as a football game to put me to sleep, but when my rest was caught up his habit of clearing his throat every other sentence would drive me out into the 100 degree heat just to rest my ears.

The "Pumpkins" held 10,000 gallons of water, and the first couple of days was filled with activity for me, but that didn't last. All in all we hauled 96000 gallons of water to the site. They mixed 9600 gallons of retardant, and totally 7 choppers came in to haul out 3500 gallons of mix  before they decided it was too far to fly to get it.

They supplied Breakfast, lunch and a dinner. We finally got a "liaison" guy who was actually worth something, and he kept us in good shape and was very happy to hang with us so that he wouldn't have to put up with the craziness of "Camp". The base camp was in McDermit Nev, some 49 miles south of us. The food while quite cold by the time it got to us, but was actually pretty good.  It was tailored more to a guy fighting fire and burning calories in overdrive. We of course were sitting on our butts sweating in the heat. The only thing that we needed was water and Gator aide.

We were handed off to a series of "Bosses", and then we got two of them. That is when it got interesting. The last one that we got actually came to visit and see for himself what we were and what we were doing. One of the interesting things that came into play was the requirement for the agency in charge of the fire to pay for the water that we had taken out of the creek. The going rate is 3 cents a gallon. It comes to $2800.00. The new boss asked me about taking our unused water and taking it back to dump in the stream, to keep from having to pay the cost. I am afraid that I was quite rude to him. Not really caring if I ever worked again has a tendency to free one from most constraints. 

We didn't dump any water back into the creek!

It was finally decided to send heli's up there to load the mixed product on the fire primarily to get rid of  it. You see they couldn't dismantle the site until the product was gone, and once it had been mixed the controlling agency had bought the finish product. They didn't suggest that they take the stuff back like the water. Well we had five loads sucked up by the heli's, at 500 gallons a trip, leaving 6500 gallons of the stuff at the end of the flying day.

We came to work the next day and found that they weren't going to send any more helis. Now the wonderful plan was for me and the other tender to haul the stuff to Winnamucca Nev,  110 miles south and dump it at a fire base there. Only one problem- they did not have any place to put it and didn't want it at all.

One of the guy's asked me about giving it to me to use as a fertilizer. Quite nice, but I spend about $400 bucks a year trying to kill everything that grows here, and I damn sure didn't want anything to get in the way of that. So I inquired at the ranch next door. The mix boss and I went up to see if they had any place that we could use it. ( It is primarily a fertilizer, if diluted enough.) Dave had two poly tanks that had been brought in with cattle feed many years ago and they had never picked them up. Since the ranch is part of a local fire district, the retardant would be a nice insurance policy if we had another fire. The rest we would dilute and spray on one of his fields.

We returned and offered the solution to the new boss. He, without shame at all called his boss and took credit for the whole thing.

Yesterday afternoon I went up and started cleaning the tanks, and before quitting we put about 5000 gallons of Fire retardant in the tanks. I spread another 4000 gallons of diluted retardant on Dave's fields.

Today was the day that they were finally able to break down the site, and in the evening I drove the tanker to Base Camp in McDermit to "Demobe". When I was originally hired and given a 1 hour training period to learn all about how to be a tender driver, I asked about fuel. I was told that I should have enough to last a week. He was intending to go to Winnamucca to pick up another tanker truck to fill out the requirements of his contract. He never came back, he was instead sent to Battle Mountain to supply dust abatement on a fire there.

Well, on my way to McDermit, I of course ran out of fuel. The gage didn't work of course, and it wouldn't have mattered if it had. There was no place to get Diesel, and I would have had to pay for it out of my pocket if there was. So I called him on the phone and he had to send a guy out to bring me fuel and help me get "de mobilized" It was damn near as detailed a routine as when I left the army.

In short, I found that nothing has changed. People are still being promoted well beyond their ability to perform. The contractor was a great guy, and I may get an occasional job to break the boredom, and buy a few toys. The Govt is as screwed up as I was afraid it was.  I am glad to be retired again!  

Flight down Jordan Creek

This morning dawned smokey as is usual these last few weeks, but I had determined to get a flight in to check for stuck Cows at the ranch next door, and to go to Rome to see if any of the young Kestrels were ready for Tami and I to trap. It is getting on to the fall hunting time, and she needs a new partner to advance her education. This fall and new bird will complete her training period as a novice. Quite frankly she is ready now.

The fires are still raging, and the BLM is still mucking about and really not seeming to care how much of the range they allow to burn up. Tami and Dave are out fighting the fires, leaving the ranch underhanded.

After checking the Pot Hole field and the Alfalfa for Antelope, I turned towards Rome. I have enough footage of the Pillars that I will put together a short video of that flight when I get a chance. I checked the wires where we caught Jasper last year, but there was nothing on them except Doves. I am not sure if the hatch was bad, or I am just being too impatient.

After cruising the valley, I decided to make a flight down Jordan Creek from where it enters the Canyon to where it dumps out into the Owyhee River. I have flown it at least three times and each time my camera malfunctioned. It was time to try again.

I flew over the Canyon to give a bit of perspective of what it looks like, then turned down it from the Arock, Oregon side. In the interest of brevity, I sped up the clips over the Canyon to four times normal speed. Sometimes it would be nice to cover that much ground, but I can see a lot more at my normal speed.

https://vimeo.com/47431258

The Password is owyheeflyer

Checking cows and Civet Cats

As is my habit in the Summer, I check the "Pot Hole" Field over at the ranch next door for stuck Cows and Calves. The field is a myriad of springs, and for all purposes, they are bottomless. The field is the only thing this time of the year that keeps grass growing that is not "Hay Fields". Of course the Hay is necessary for this winter, but the Cows with their new Calves, need as good a food as they can get to meet the shipping requirements a bit later in the summer. This gives me a reason to fly a bit, and the air is generally pretty nice early in the mornings. A cup of coffee and some relaxing music, and it doesn't seem like work at all.

https://vimeo.com/47196941

The Cows can generally manage to survive for a day or more, but the Calves are at risk from the plentiful Coyotes that this years bumper crop of Rabbits have spawned. Once the Calf tires and lays down, he is helpless.

After checking the field and finding that there were no stuck critters, I decided to check Appendix Point ( named for belly scars of the swimmers.) for water. It is one of my most important Duck ponds for Jessie the Falcon to hunt. Important because it is close to home and I can save on fuel. There is a little bit of water still left and it may hang on until the rains this fall. I can only hope, for if this dries up, I am relegated to the creeks for prey for Jessie. Creeks provide too many escape points and it is hard to get a good flight.

After returning home and putting "Dart" away, I was gathering up my stuff to go have some breakfast. As I was leaving, I heard a clunk that shouldn't have been there. I returned to the main part of the hanger and stopped to look. Out from under one of my shelves a cute little head poked out to look at me. A Civet Cat! Karen had a incident with a "Skunk?" while I was fishing last week. Nothing more had developed since I had returned, so I had hoped that he had moved on. Sigh! no such luck.

Breakfast would have to wait. I went to the house and got Karen, and a shotgun and locked up the Dogs. We went back out to the Hanger and he saw us and made a run behind the air compressor and a bunch of shelving. Karen suggested the air might just drive him out of hiding. It did indeed put him on the run in the right direction. Unfortunately he took refuge in an old Clothes dryer that I had stored for some unknown reason, and wouldn't come out. I tried more of the air, and got nothing but dust. Well, I didn't need the dryer any way, so I drug it outside to where I had a clear field of fire.

Well I waited as best as I am able, then it was time for the water hoses. I managed to water a lot of landscape, but could not get him out. Since Karen was there setting the thing on fire wasn't an option, so I got her to get the Quad and some rope. My idea was to at least get it as far away from the house as I could. Ignoring it was not one of the options available. I have had entirely too many instances of the damage these things can do.

I had Karen drive and I sat on the rear of the Quad to watch. We hadn't got more than 10 feet when the C Cat made a break back to the Hanger. I jumped off and managed to get in front of it and block it. It retaliated by standing on its front legs to threaten me. Bad move! The first shot knocked it back and the second reduced it to a gagging ( for Karen) mess of former Civet Cat. While Karen was losing her breakfast, ( she was down wind and just doesn't seem to tolerate Skunk smells very well) I ran for some garbage bags and a rubber glove. I bagged it, and off we went to a remote area of the property.

I had to leave my shoes outside, but I got by without having to change my clothes.

Haboob, Southeast Oregon Desert Style!

I had gone out to mow the lawn, and even out the parts that the Rabbits hadn't eaten. I had thought earlier that there might be another fire South of where the Long Draw fire had burned, but as I spent more time outside it became obvious that this was ash picked up by the winds out of the South. The forecast had been for strong winds out of the South, and they were coming.

I stopped the mower and went in to get Karen, since the towering ash cloud was becoming spectacular. She decided to go to the top of the hill to make sure that it wasn't a fire. I went with her, and we no more got to the top of the hill than we beat feet back to the house to prepare for the arrival as it was very apparent that it was going to be spectacular to say the least.

Karen started closing the house and I shut the hanger door, and put Jessie to bed. Karen shot still pictures, while I grabbed the Drift video camera.

We were blacked out totally for about 15 minutes. The only thing that you could see outside was a faint walkway light. The wind got up to 31 mph. It finally blew over and things have cleared up. there is very little evidence of the event. I am sure that the ash will end up somewhere, just not here.

Password is:  owyheeflyer

https://vimeo.com/46991711