Bud and Kite

 I know that it is a bit soon, but we are making progress, and I am rather ecstatic about it. I admit that at one point I had almost despaired him ever being worth a shit, because he is so determined. He still has some pretty rough spots, but they are smoothing out as time goes by. The things that could have made him a pain to handle can also become one of  his best features.

My main problem with him is that I didn't get the basics of hooding, and being more familiar with the lure in my rush to get him outside before he fledged. I wanted him anchored to this place. It would still have worked out if I had taken the 260 mile round trip to get a fresh battery for my telemetry. I had to take him in ( much to his protest and anger) to install a new one in his transmitter. Early mistakes in their handling never goes away. It can be blunted, but it is still there right up till the day they die. They are much like me. I may forgive, but I will never forget!

I was counting on a couple of drones that I had been given by a dear friend, to allow me to train him when he was flying, but something happened to them and now they are not working. I do have a kite, but it is cumbersome and requires a lot more time and effort to use. Soon the wind that seems to always be there will die as the fall comes closer. Last night I stayed up until almost one a.m. trying to find a used drone on eBay. I did find one that I hope has the stuff I need to fit my training.

The first time on the kite, he took the lure over the quad and let go of it. I relented and presented him the lure on the ground after he had been scared off it. Yesterday I attempt to reconfigure it with a line and a red 18 inch parachute on the end of the lure line rather than being attached to the kite string that would take him back to the quad. He didn't like the red parachute and wouldn't grab the lure. I again fed him with the lure on the ground. The wind died after the first attempt.

Today I lightened the lure pole in the hopes that I could get it to work in a lite wind as I needed. The wind did come up to about 10 MPH so I took off the chute and again secured it to the kite string. He was down about 1/2 ounce from yesterday, which was good.

I ran the lure up about 30 feet in the hope that he would be able to stay away from the quad. The outside temp was 101 degrees today. He soon saw the lure and took off after it. He flew up to the lure and was studying it to make sure he could get it without danger to him. He checked it out at least three times to make sure that it was safe to grab, then on the forth try he grabbed the meat and tried to fly off with it, but ended up sliding down the line to the dreaded red quad. He dropped it and flew off. I stayed still hoping that he would go to the lure on the ground by the quad, but he did not. He flew by it at least four times. Eventually he came back and sat on a short section of fence near me. He was panting a lot because of the heat and the fact that he had made at least four circles of the house. I ran the lure back up the string, rather than giving in to him again. He rested for a while then flew straight up to the lure and grabbed the meat again and I did my best to get him some slack in the line so that he wasn't being drug across the ground by the kite. He held on this time, and I was able to get the line off the kite. He was so tired and winded that he was honking when he breathed out.

I brought him inside in the air conditioned dining room to eat. I probably fed him too much today, but he earned it. 

 As you can see, He got a lot of food today