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

Owyhee fishing trip 2112

Randy C, a friend of mine since the early 70's, came over for our annual fishing trip. We loaded my little quad trailer with everything we would need for three days of hot weather. I loaded my ice box with about 6 gallons of frozen water to keep our fish fresh, and figuring on thawing it out as we needed for drinking water. The rest was stoves, fish cleaning table, tents and other comfort items. Quite surprisingly we only took 12 beers with us, and ended up bringing 2 of them back. Randy has cut back a lot lately. Nothing like a bit of advancing age to temper one's excesses.

We parked my truck at the last ranch on the road, and headed out on a two track down to the river. It is a 7 mile ride with the last part down a pretty narrow Canyon to the river. The spring waters had changed the river a bit. The sand bar that we normally camp on had narrowed to almost nothing. Apparently the river channels had changed a bit as well. We had to do our Cat fishing in a bit of a different spot than before.

The temps were in the high 90's by the time we got our stuff carried down to the River, and the tents set up. Then it was time to do some fishing. I had in the past used Panther Martin lures to catch Bass, but I have since gone to plastic worms. With the Small Mouth Bass, I find a shorter worm in the 5 inch range works best. Randy started out with the lure while I started with a worm. I soon found out that a form of " Dabing" was the most effective. I had waded out into the middle of the fast water to a point where the water dropped off to slow. I spent a bit of time throwing way down stream, but kept getting my strikes as I was lifting the worm out of the water. After having this shown to me time after time, I finally just gave up and stripped off about 10 feet, and promptly caught all the Bass I wanted.

After a time Randy got tired of watching me and came over to see how I was using the worms. He soon caught his limit as well. Randy had brought a little plastic picnic table, probably made for kids, and we set that up in the river to clean our fish.

When the sun went down, we both went out in the river to bathe and wash some of the stink off us. We then watched the shadows lengthen and all the Nighthawks and Terns flying up the River. The Quail all fly to the steep side of the river for their night roost. When the Mosquito's came out, we retired to our beds to listen to the night chorus of Bull Frogs, and the Beaver that has claimed that stretch of the river. An occasional Coyote added to the chorus.

I had brought my Drift Camera with me, and put it on my hat to see if I could get anything on film. Unfortunately I did not have anything to view the finished product and after the fact, found that I did not have it positioned very well.

The Catfish population seem to be down a bit, but the Bass made up for it. Randy did catch a really good Cat, and the rest were in the 18 inch range. We caught enough fish that we didn't fish on our last day, just concentrated in packing up and getting out of the Canyon before it got too hot.

https://vimeo.com/46947649

The link above will take you to the video. The password is:
 owyheeflyer

 

Long Draw Fire

The following was started on Monday.

It has been an interesting several days. Sunday afternoon we noticed smoke several  miles  South of us. I called BLM fire center to make sure that they knew of it. We watched the fire grow all afternoon and evening. The wind of course was no help to anything other than to spread the fire.
We had gone to bed when our neighbor called us worried about how close it was getting. Karen and I drove down South on Hwy 97 and found that the fire was still 15 miles south of us and on the other side of Whitehorse Road. The wind had died down and the fire looked to my untrained eye to be subdued enough that with a bit of work and luck would be under control. Of course that was just wishful thinking. Apparently the fire crews didn’t feel the need to hasten its demise.

The next day, Monday we had an appointment in Boise, so we left John Gilpin here with the dogs.     ( John is here touring the US from Australia. )  The temps were supposed to be the hottest of the year, and with the winds and the temps, the fire took off again. It jumped both the Whitehorse Road and Hwy 95. As we came down the hill into Jordan Valley city limits, we  were greeted by a line of trucks and cars right back to the edge of town. Not seeing much chance of that working out, I ducked through town to the service station to find out what was going on.

I was surprised to find that it was the fire that had been so sure was out. The Hwy Dept was stopping traffic in town so that travelers would at least have some of the amenities that are so scarce once you leave town. We drove to the head of the line, and were allowed on past to see what could be done here at the house. It was a pretty fast trip home.

Our prayers were answered, the wind had changed and was blowing from the West. It was still about 8 miles South of us. We watched it all evening and in four hours had traveled some 20 or more miles across the Desert.

Finally at 1:30 AM I drove South to see where the fire was and to try to determine our danger level. I finally saw a BLM truck along the road, and pulled up to see if I could find any information on what was happening. Apparently every one had gone home because it was dark or something. I realize I am being very critical, but I am convinced that Govt. stupidity is rampant in these agencies.   I asked how it was going and if they were going to get it out. He said “ Fires are problematic and all go out sometime”. You see where my attitude is coming from. I returned back home and maintained my vigil.

 Photo's by John Gilpin

 Finally at four AM a large dozer went down the creek, and I felt reassured enough to go to bed for whatever sleep we could catch.


At daylight I rolled Dart out of the hanger and went on a recon to see just what was happening from a vantage point that I could not get from the Hwy. Again the fire was for the most part over. There was a couple of hot spots that could have been put out if there had been any one to do so. The fire was still on the other side of a pretty wide dirt road, and still 8 miles South of us. When I got back I put in a call to our power company Co op to get an idea of how long the power would be out. The freezers  were becoming critical. The lady answering the phone informed me that they had lost 65 power poles in the fire and it was going to take a while.

I began trying to get the Motor home started so that if the fire did come our way again we would have something that we could stay in while the house burned. Finally I was able to get it jumped with the truck, and moved to the other side of the hanger. Then I turned my attention to the Onan Generator that the Motor Home is equipped with. It has always been a pain in the butt and I had not run it for at least two years.

It ignored the starter switch completely, which I actually expected. I wanted some fuel in the Motor Home so that I could charge the battery. Oh well I thought, I have an “inverter” and promptly blew that out trying to run the electric pump on the Diesel tank. Back to the Generator!  I pulled the truck up to the Generator and it was obvious that the power wasn’t coming through, So I got the Jumper cables, and went direct from the truck to the solenoid and cranked it over. While it would crank, it was obvious that it wasn’t getting gas. The Onan has an electric fuel pump that has been one of my major problems with its use. Back to the shop, pull out an extra “facet” fuel pump and tank that I had used when I flew to Texas with Arty. A little creative wiring and bypassing the fuel pump totally, and it started right up. I ran some extension cords to the three freezers and my worries were over at least on the freezer front.

After John and I got the generator working, we then started on a fire break around the house and property. I had tried to burn a break earlier in the year, but the danger was just too much to do so. John went behind the chicken pen and loafing shed and started pulling all the old boards and what ever burnables that he could find, while I hooked the quad up to my chain link drag. We beat down whatever stuff that was there until we had a 40 foot dust track. I then got the tractor and hooked up the disc and started on the field on the East end of the house. I disced and John drug until we had another good fire break there. We both felt much better when it was done.

They have just now walked the Dozers back here, so I assume that the fire is finally contained. The man was right, when the fire hit the Owyhee River some 35 to 40 miles after it started, it ran out of things to burn. Until the next day of course.

Now the fire has turned to the South and last I heard was close enough to McDermit Nev. that they have finally called in some fire crews that are actually allowed to put the fire out.

We just checked NFIC ( National interagency fire center) and they currently say that the fire is 50 % contained and has burned somewhere around 800 square miles of range land.


I cannot begin to convey to you the devastation that these ranchers are facing. One of the ranchers close to where this thing started, has lost all of his range, and at least 160 head of cattle. The bad part is that there is no where to put his remaining cows that they can find a bite to eat. It is my understanding that once the range is burned it will be 7 years before they allow cows on it again. Then there is the habitat for Sage Grouse that everyone thinks the main culprit is the rancher and his cows, yet the actual danger to the Grouse is the fire program employed by the BLM. They seemed to not care at all about putting the fire out.

Our neighbor Dave, his family and his brothers and sister went down to help the "12 Mile Ranch" with the fire, and to try to get their cattle to safety. Dave was bringing a bunch of cows down to safety when the fire exploded all around him and the cows. There was no way out, but Rosie, ( Dave's sister") had no intention in allowing him to die in the fire, and drove straight into the flames and managed to get to him. They somehow got back out before the truck that she was driving was choked to a stop from loss of oxygen. It was hot enough that Dave's hat caught on fire while he was on horseback driving the cows. He managed to get out with nothing more than a blister on his forehead. His hat was pretty disgusting anyway! The cows didn't make it, but his horse did with a scorched tail and some burns on his feet. It just happened to be Dave's birthday.

No one knows when the fire will be out totally, or how it will change the area, or the cost to the ranchers of the area. They, unlike the BLM have been killing themselves to put the fire out, protecting as much as they could. Helping each other night and day while still trying to maintain their ranches as well.