NAFA Field Meet - Tuesday
Tuesday dawned a wet, cold, and generally miserable day. The fog was so thick, and low, that probably not too many longwingers could go out. And the blowing wind made hawking a daunting task. Bill and Marcie Oakes had arrived the night before, but Bill wanted to take KC out on his own at first, before inviting anyone to come along. So, I was on my own today.
I started out by doing some housekeeping. I located and visited the local library, and checked in on my e-mail. Nothing much there. Sent a couple notes to some friends. Went to the post office and mailed out some post cards. It's the thing to do when on a vacation. I then returned to my room, and did some laundry, hoping the afternoon might have better prospects. Because he needed it, I took Rigel out to fly around the hotel, just to stretch his wings. The little guy is not trained yet to take quarry, so was coming along mostly so I could just take care of him. Well, while out flying around, we attracted the attention of the resident kestrel, who did not like at all this outsider in his territory. The wild bird attacked Rigel, and chased him off, over the field behind the hotel, over the freeway exit ramp, towards the freeway. OH DEAR!! Run as fast as you can. Hop that barb-wire fence, run across the exit ramp . . . oh where is that little guy? No telemetry, and no bells. But listen, there is the call of the wild bird. He was sitting on a sign, and Rigel was cowering in the grass below. Make in to him, and pick the little guy up, and tuck him into your jacket. He appeared very frightened . . . and was subdued for the rest of the afternoon, but otherwise was unharmed. The resident bird flew off, having defended his turf.
I had been told that to drive south of Garden City, towards Liberal, Kansas was a good area to find jackrabbits. I wanted Pente to have a chance to see them. But I was not yet trained on what kind of terraine to look for them in. I did go ahead and navigate that way, and ended up in one of the Walk In Hunting Areas. But the weather was so miserable, I questioned my sanity at thinking of hawking at all. Pente seemed to question it as well! I geared up, and took her out. Fortunately, the place I chose was right next to a rural cemetary . . . and it looked far better than the grassy area around it. So Pente went up the only tree in the area, and I began beating and making noise at all the juniper bushes. For the next half hour I did flush two bunnies, and Pente tried at them, but the wind and the cold and the wet really took their toll. I finally decided that I was absolutely stupid to be out there . . . and called Pente down and packed up to go. All my clothes were wet, my gauntlet was wet, Pente was wet. Just a miserable afternoon.
I returned to Garden City, cleaned up, and went over to the meet hall. Bill and Marcie were kind enough to share pizza with me. That evening was the business meeting for NAFA. There was lots of interesting discussions, which then closed for vendor sales, and back to our rooms for sleep.
End Day 2.
I started out by doing some housekeeping. I located and visited the local library, and checked in on my e-mail. Nothing much there. Sent a couple notes to some friends. Went to the post office and mailed out some post cards. It's the thing to do when on a vacation. I then returned to my room, and did some laundry, hoping the afternoon might have better prospects. Because he needed it, I took Rigel out to fly around the hotel, just to stretch his wings. The little guy is not trained yet to take quarry, so was coming along mostly so I could just take care of him. Well, while out flying around, we attracted the attention of the resident kestrel, who did not like at all this outsider in his territory. The wild bird attacked Rigel, and chased him off, over the field behind the hotel, over the freeway exit ramp, towards the freeway. OH DEAR!! Run as fast as you can. Hop that barb-wire fence, run across the exit ramp . . . oh where is that little guy? No telemetry, and no bells. But listen, there is the call of the wild bird. He was sitting on a sign, and Rigel was cowering in the grass below. Make in to him, and pick the little guy up, and tuck him into your jacket. He appeared very frightened . . . and was subdued for the rest of the afternoon, but otherwise was unharmed. The resident bird flew off, having defended his turf.
I had been told that to drive south of Garden City, towards Liberal, Kansas was a good area to find jackrabbits. I wanted Pente to have a chance to see them. But I was not yet trained on what kind of terraine to look for them in. I did go ahead and navigate that way, and ended up in one of the Walk In Hunting Areas. But the weather was so miserable, I questioned my sanity at thinking of hawking at all. Pente seemed to question it as well! I geared up, and took her out. Fortunately, the place I chose was right next to a rural cemetary . . . and it looked far better than the grassy area around it. So Pente went up the only tree in the area, and I began beating and making noise at all the juniper bushes. For the next half hour I did flush two bunnies, and Pente tried at them, but the wind and the cold and the wet really took their toll. I finally decided that I was absolutely stupid to be out there . . . and called Pente down and packed up to go. All my clothes were wet, my gauntlet was wet, Pente was wet. Just a miserable afternoon.
I returned to Garden City, cleaned up, and went over to the meet hall. Bill and Marcie were kind enough to share pizza with me. That evening was the business meeting for NAFA. There was lots of interesting discussions, which then closed for vendor sales, and back to our rooms for sleep.
End Day 2.
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