Day 52

Its been an interesting 24 hours. Don't worry Lee Zard is just fine, its been other things. First the well pump went out last night about 10:30. It had been giving me trouble for a while, I replaced the control box and it seems as though we had dodged a big one. We did, but only for a while. The pump was going bad and that is what messed up the control box. The hard part is getting someone to come fix it. Plenty of people in Idaho, but they have to be licensed in Oregon to work on it. :-/ That leaves the little town of Burns with about 3000 people.

No real problem. I had water enough to make coffee, plenty of water in the pool to use to flush toilets. Actually my only real problem was water for the critters. I have 7 Ducks just waiting and growing that I will be using to show Lee what I want him to catch when he grows up. I swear those varmints carry a beak full of food and dump it in their water, over and over. I have never seen anything any where near as messy as a Duck. I couldn't use the pool water because of the chlorine in it.

Of course I was up early, only to sit around and wait three hours for 8 AM to roll around in Burns. They are an hour behind us, so it seemed to take forever. I got lucky and there was one guy there who could actually take care of my problem. Its the middle of haying season, so the irrigation pumps are turned off, thus they had time to make a drive down here. Two guys showed up about noon and we pulled the pump, put another one in and I was back in business by 4 PM. I've got no clue how heavy the bill is going to be, but that is life in the Desert.

We had moved Lee's play pen up against the window while we had gone to Nampa Tuesday, and it had worked so well, we left it there. So at 6 am when I got up, I fed him and opened the window. I had read an article about putting transmitters on falcons and they had recommended Number 16 rubber bands for the neck mount. The last place that we stopped when coming back from Nampa was a Staples store. I had been using a big wide one that the mail lady puts on all out junk mail. The article claimed that some birds had killed their selves with the heavier rubber bands, The #16 looked a bit tight to me, but what the hell, I'll try anything once. That was the first real fit I have seen Lee throw. He gagged, and scratched until the fuzz was floating all over the place. I finally took pity on him and cut it off. I found a bigger one that was thinner and put that on him. He liked that a lot better and soon made his escape out the window.

It was pretty hot today, and I found Lee several times hiding behind the Chimney to get out of the sun. He is still hanging around pretty close. At noon I took half of a Quail out for him and tossed it on the ground. He was on the trailer and came to it and ate a little bit. I picked him up and put him back in the open window. He slept a bit on his perch. He went out again about 3 PM.

Around 5PM he flew back onto the Hot tub, and was trying to drink out of the little sheen of water on the top of the tub. I filled the bath, but he decided the pool was where he needed to be. I poured the water in the bath onto the cover. He made a bee line for that and got his drink and bath. After he got all preened out he went behind a Mediterranean Sage and slept again for an hour or two.

About 8 PM I got another half of Quail for him. He was sitting on the hangar, so I called his name and tossed the lure out. He wasted no time in flying to it. He overshot his landing and had to run back to it. So now the safety factor has increased by leaps and bounds. Now no matter how far away he is, when I swing the lure he will come.

After I put him in the house, I went back out to enjoy the evening counting Jack Rabbits. They are thick as I have ever seen them. I found two young Jacks dead at the edge of the yard. No marks on them so it is some sort of a disease. The only thing visible is their butts show some intestinal problems. Not a good sign at all. I was counting 7 in one group that was in about a 10 foot circle. Any disease will spread like wild fire if its bad enough.

We have about four Deer that lay up in the old growth Sage by the creek, so I always take my bino's with me when I sit out there. I noticed something light at the edge of the Sage. The field was full of Jacks and Quail, so I assumed that this was another Jack. Nope it was a Coyote working the edge of the brush. I made a bee line in the house and got the 22-250. No more Coyote. I drug her up to the top of the gravel pit to feed the buzzards. Don't worry, the bullets are frangible- no lead.

I had found one of the dead rabbits this morning while I was waiting for the pump guy's to show up, and took it up to the gravel pit so the dogs wouldn't get into it. Sometime the problems with the rabbits are worms. I don't need dogs with worms or rolling in a decomposing rabbit either. There was a Raven's nest inside the pit, so I took the Rabbit there. The pit has been locked off to the public for a year or two now. I tossed a rock at the nest area from the rim. Imagine my surprise when a Prairie Falcon flushed off the cliff face. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I have been risking my life flying all over looking for the Prairie that chased my Pigeons all winter and spring. I don't know how many miles I have walked to get to remote areas close to here, because I was convinced that she was near. Duh! Right in my back yard as it turns out. I haven't been able to verify the age of the babies, but it appears that they are quite a bit younger than Lee. The female was sitting on the cliff face in the shade when I went back to check so something is there. Oh well, no body is perfect, and I apparently am a shining example of that statement.

Day 53

Jessie has been giving me trouble in that she will not quit laying eggs. As a consequence I have not been feeding her as much hoping that would curtail her egg laying. She has 10 or 11 so far, and Raptors are not intended to lay that many eggs. Yesterday she was very vocal, and I think a bit jealous, so much so that I put her up very early so that we wouldn't have to listen to her. 

This morning I weighed her and found that she was down to hunting weight, so I kept her on the fist and fed her the Quail that I had intended to give to Lee later in the day. Now it was Lee's turn to be jealous. He did at least two high speed fly by's while she was eating. The first for that sort of thing.

After she finished and I had put her on her day perch, Lee flew over to the chairs where we had been sitting, landing on the back of one of them. I got the other half of another Quail and offered him the fist. He got on and ate one of the best meals that he has ever taken. I liked that a lot.

https://vimeo.com/171962079    password   owyheeflyer