An early end to hawking this year.

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond my control, I have decided to end my Hawking this year. Its bad enough that there are few opportunities for Ducks due to the ongoing drought. Now it appears to me that there is a real danger from a strain of "bird Flu", HPA1 H5N8 to be exact. A friend on the Canadian Washington border just lost four of his falcons after one of his Falcons killed a Duck. That falcon fed from it and he fed the rest of the Duck to his other breeding falcons. They died within a couple of days from the disease. He and his wife are quarantined until they can find for sure that it was not transmitted to them as well. I am not worried about Karen and I, but I have no intention of risking Jessie to that stuff. It would only take a couple of days for birds from that flock to arrive here given the right storm. The last two times that we have gone out, there was nothing on the Lake for her to fly. So any Ducks that we get here will be migrants from the North.

Below is a press release from NAFA.