Jasper update

I am sure that most of you remember Jasper, a special little Kestrel that Tami Flew as her first raptor. Tami of course is our neighbor and my last apprentice. Jasper was caught in a family group that had not dispersed. He consequently had no idea of what he could catch and what he could not. To me the perfect timing for a future falconry bird.

We entered him to Starlings, which were as big as he was. He had no idea that Starlings were anything  other than normal prey for a Kestrel.

 He taught Tami a lot about raptors and how to teach them to hunt. We had a good season with him and for his reward, released him here at the house.

He has spent the fall and winters here at the house. The first year he stayed in one of the windsocks, which gave him shelter, but left him out in the wind. I built a Kestrel box in the hopes that he would pick up a female in the spring and raise a bunch of little Jaspers.

I saw him the first spring with a female and he showed her the box. She took one look around and declined. They ended up going over to the ranch and nesting in the trees.

His female for whatever reason, died just as the youngsters began flying. There were two of them, and Tami eventually rescued them and tame hacked them back to the wild. One of the males actually spent nights on her back porch for most of the winter.I believe that he is still there, but has moved into the Barn.

Jasper came back over to our place and again spent the fall and winter here. For the most part I just kept an eye on him. When we started getting some really serious weather and cold, he began hunting closer to the house. I decided to see if he remembered me, and waved a Starling at him and threw it in the parking lot. He wasted no time in swooping down and carrying it off to a spot to eat. When I judged that he was having trouble finding food, I would feed him. He always responded.

This last spring he again paired with a female and they raised a clutch of young over at the ranch. As the youngsters got bigger and more demanding, he began to spend a lot of the day here at his old spots. When the young ones finally dispersed, he came home to stay. This time he started using the Kestrel box to sleep in at night.

The windsocks are his major hunting perch's. He also hunts from the chicken house and telephone line over the horse corral. He is hunting birds when he uses them.

I went out to do the evening chores this evening, and could hear a strange sound coming from the Pigeon house. I identified the sound as I got closer. Kestrel! I opened the door and there was Jasper trying to get out of the screened window. I held the door open and called his name. He saw the open door and flew out landing on the telephone wire. On the floor was a Starling with no head. I picked it up and walked out in the open end of the runway, called his name and waved, the threw the Starling out on the ground. He took off, snatched it up and took it to a comfortable perch to eat it.

Apparently he either saw a Starling go into the Pigeon door ( 8x10 ) of chased one into there. Earlier this year I had to let him out of the Chicken house after he went in chasing Sparrows. This is his third winter here. I find it amusing that he still remembers our association. I have never tried to make him dependent, but if he shows any signs that he is having trouble getting food, he know where I live.