General Level Falconer
It had been so long since my earlier posts, and these current ones, that I forgot to include the information that I am now a General Level Falconer. All the paperwork was completed and mailed in . . . . and then I had to wait . . . . and wait . . . . and wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to grind slowly on. I did get my new license, finally, but not in time for an Advancement Celebration that I threw for a few friends.
On August 28, 2004 I had a party at my home, and invited Dave and his wife Linda, and Bill and his wife Marcie over to celebrate my advancement to General Level Falconry. Shawn was the Grillmaster! It was a very enjoyable evening, and I was happy to celebrate this most important step in my life with my two hawking friends. This also gave me a chance to give a couple gifts, especially to my sponsor, who made my entry into falconry possible.
Now I'm a General Level Falconer . . . which means I can now have two birds. I've been working on my equipment, and very soon hope to trap a kestrel. At this time we have set aside Wednesday, October 6 as a day to go out looking for a kestrel. Shawn and I are going to drive up to the Eau Claire area, where the Mississippi joins the state of Wisconsin, and drive down the road that runs along the border, down to La Crosse, looking for kestrels. I want to be there at dawn, which means we will get up very early. The wild birds should begin their migration out of Canada, and hopefully will follow along the river. However, I also got an e-mail, and Bill is asking me if I want to join him on that same day to go down to Janesville. Bill is looking to trap a new red-tail. There is a pheasant farm down there that is a real pull for passage birds. So, I'll have to decide which I'm going to do . . . but Wednesday certainly looks like its going to be a trap day.
I'm excited . . . and can't wait to begin with a new partner. I'll have to be very careful with the kestrel, as they are a lot smaller, and more delicate than the hardy red-tail. But I feel up to the challenge, and want to add the knowledge of how to work with this most smallest of the falcons to my falconry skills.
cdb
On August 28, 2004 I had a party at my home, and invited Dave and his wife Linda, and Bill and his wife Marcie over to celebrate my advancement to General Level Falconry. Shawn was the Grillmaster! It was a very enjoyable evening, and I was happy to celebrate this most important step in my life with my two hawking friends. This also gave me a chance to give a couple gifts, especially to my sponsor, who made my entry into falconry possible.
Now I'm a General Level Falconer . . . which means I can now have two birds. I've been working on my equipment, and very soon hope to trap a kestrel. At this time we have set aside Wednesday, October 6 as a day to go out looking for a kestrel. Shawn and I are going to drive up to the Eau Claire area, where the Mississippi joins the state of Wisconsin, and drive down the road that runs along the border, down to La Crosse, looking for kestrels. I want to be there at dawn, which means we will get up very early. The wild birds should begin their migration out of Canada, and hopefully will follow along the river. However, I also got an e-mail, and Bill is asking me if I want to join him on that same day to go down to Janesville. Bill is looking to trap a new red-tail. There is a pheasant farm down there that is a real pull for passage birds. So, I'll have to decide which I'm going to do . . . but Wednesday certainly looks like its going to be a trap day.
I'm excited . . . and can't wait to begin with a new partner. I'll have to be very careful with the kestrel, as they are a lot smaller, and more delicate than the hardy red-tail. But I feel up to the challenge, and want to add the knowledge of how to work with this most smallest of the falcons to my falconry skills.
cdb
1 Comments:
At 12:48 PM,
Tom Kufahl said…
Good luck with your kestral! I'm guessing it will be a contrast at least to some degree with Pente, coming from a different family, with a different style, coloring, size, and all the other differences. I think I'll sneak in a story here, that I mentioned to you once or twice, but never really had the chance to explain.
When I was in high school, a neighbor bought a red tail hawk over to me, knowing that I would collect almost everything that was around. The only thing that was wrong with him was that he was quite young, as far as I remember. He/she lived in the basement during winter, and in a rather large cage during 2 summers, before I went to college and released him. My mother never failed to tell me each time she thought she saw him for the next few years. Of course, some of these sightings could have been a crow or a robin, but I always felt proud that she remembered.
While I was in college, I had a dream about teathering him, and when I woke up, I imagine to this day that I had figured out how to train him for falconry. I bet I could have trained him after I thought it through. Now when I see Pente, I think of how neat that would have ben for a young man. That whole sequence of events still to this day seems to be very important to me and I can think of what a wonderful practice this would be! I really would love to be a falconer, and I think you are doing the neatest practice! I envy you!
Keep up your blog! I shall be visiting it from time to time. Blogging is quite fun, no?
Hmmm, where did the spell checker go? I can't trust myself very far without one. Oh, wel...
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