Feast or famine

There is a storm front moving in for the rest of the week, and today was pretty windy. We had gone to town yesterday to try to get my computer problems (self inflicted of course) worked out. Jessie was still recovering from an overload of Duck fat, and the HH girls were overdue for a casting, ( Raptors require fur or feathers on a regular basis to clean their crop.) So I tossed Jessie a small chunk of Starling, and whole Starlings to the other two.

Tami was deep into school work for the kids, so Karen and I went to the ranch to fly Jessie by ourselves. We were to pick up Tami afterwards to fly the Harris Hawk girls, as Karen wanted to stay home to get some stuff done.

There was a large bunch of Mallards at the barn, so we got behind some loading chutes and installed Jess's transmitter, and turned her loose. The Ducks were only about 75 feet in front of us, but they fly up the creek if they can. I sent Karen out further to try to turn them when they flew that way. Of course that didn't work, and although Jessie tried, they were too close to water for her to do any good.

We were doing our best to head them off for another flush, and I stopped to get an idea as to Jessie's location. I finally saw her out across the ditch flying about 300 yards away. As I watched to see if she was coming back, a bunch of Ducks and Geese took off from some water over there. The Ducks went straight, while the Geese curved to the left. Jessie went into a stoop and grabbed a Goose by the neck and they came tumbling out of the sky. She did not let go and they crashed into the ground very close to the horse remuda that the ranch keeps in that field. I started my best imitation of a run in her direction. Of course picturing her either getting stomped by a horse, or wing whipped by a Goose, either the one that she grabbed or its mate. ( That happens a lot with Geese. They mate for life and will fight for their mate)

It seemed to take forever to get there and I was pretty "wind broke" when I did. I was looking all around, and could not find her. I went to where the horses were milling about, thinking that she was the object of their attention, but she wasn't there. Finally Karen, who had even further to go than I did, arrived with the telemetry, and started scanning. The signal seemed to be every where, so I took it and turned the gain down enough to determine direction. I then found that we had both ran right past her. She was in a small ditch by the fence, and she had the Goose under control, still had it be the neck.

I finally understood why she was still alive and in control. The Goose was a Juvenile Tundra Greater White- Fronted Goose, and only weigh about half of a regular Canada Goose. The bird book says 4.8 lbs.

 Of course she had to scrape every bit of fat off it that she could get. This apparently tasted a bit better, and she actually ate a bit of the breast meat this time.

https://vimeo.com/53051554  Password is owyheeflyer  In the credits I called the Goose a Cackling Goose. I am not going to change it- too much trouble.

After she ate about as much as she could hold, I picked her up with a Starling and we made our way back to the car. Karen stuffed the Goose in my bag.

We got to Tami's as she was finishing up with her Kestrel. I kept feeling something tickling me on the side of my face, and kept trying to brush off the "feather" that was the culprit. Tami and Reuben joined us in the car and we went to the house to drop off Jessie and pick up the girls. I kept feeling a tickle on my face, so I took off my hat and found that the tickle was feather lice. Wonderful! Not that much trouble for me, but a definite pain for Jessie. She is going to have to endure it for at least a week   until I can get to town.

I wanted to hunt somewhere else to give the ranch spot a rest. One should never hunt them so hard that they change where they stay.

We went to the Pillars of Rome for another try. The wind was still blowing, and I wasn't too sure how that was going to work out for the girls. We got in the field and had walked quite a ways, seeing nothing. Finally Puddy took off after a fleeing Jack, with Yogi right behind. Puddy was going low and Yogi high. Puddy took a shot at him, but he dodged and apparently hid for a bit. Yogi caught the wind and was blown up about 60 feet high. She turned over  and came down in a corkscrew, slamming into the Jack and the ground. Puddy wasted no time in securing the head. As you can see they are pretty deep into this bush. I had to break it out so that I could retrieve them from it.

I had left my vest and bag laying on the ground at the house, and had borrowed Karen's. It didn't fit me very well, and I was not comfortable, so we decided that a lousey Goose and a Jack Rabbit was enough for a windy day.

I cannot figure Jessie at all. She thinks nothing of refusing to catch anything for days and even weeks, big small, nothing tempted her. Then she ignores Ducks and grabs a Goose and rides it to the ground. I have to admit, I am in awe of this bird. I have never seen her like before.