Happy Saint Patrick's Day
To One and All!
The Luck 'O the Irish to ya . . . even if you don't have one drop of Irish Blood in ya!
The Ladyhawker
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Thursday, March 08, 2007
DEEP DEEP SNOW Bunny Hunting - And Let's All Hear it for the New Lisbon PD and Public Works
Today I decided to try my luck at finding something for Nina to hunt. I do have an awful lot of wild turkeys showing an incredible amount of interest in my bird feeders just outside my door. But I don't have a license for turkey, and I have no idea if she'd chase one. I think they may be a heck of a lot harder to catch than they look. Perhaps I'll check in on a license for them and try. But, anyway, I thought I'd look for some squirrels. The park in New Lisbon usually has a lot of them. Though I didn't find any. In fact, all I found in the park was deep snow, and I got stuck. I drove around the park, then went on a part of the park that has been groomed for the snowmobile trail. But normally it is driveable. It looked driveable! Except for now. And I got stuck. Just about the time I was starting to worry about how I was going to get out, and was trying to figure out who I could call, a New Lisbon police office came by. He was so nice and friendly, and teased me about having chose to drive on a snowmobile trail. He didn't have a shovel in his trunk, but left to go get one. He also called in for the fellas with public works. He returned and helped to shovel me out, and then three big burley guys from public works gave me a good push and got me outta my bind.THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!!!!
I wish I had gotten a picture of you all for the blog. I did give the address to the officer, and invited them all to come visit.
I poked around the park and didn't find anything. I then moved to the truck stop outside of New Lisbon. There we found very very very deep snow . . . but lots of bunny sign, and after some pushing and stomping, Nina contacted with one of them. That's #29 for the year. We had a few more flushes, but no more successes . . . and I was getting pretty exhausted walking around, so I called it a day.
So Three Cheers go up today!
One for the nice New Lisbon Officer . . . sorry I didn't notice your name!
One for the New Lisbon Public Works!
And one for Nina!
HUZZAAAAAAAAAH
HUZZAAAAAAAAAH
HUZZAAAAAAAAAH
Geocaching
Something new I have started to do, as recommended by my fellow falconer friend Sharon, down in New Mexico, is geocaching. You use a GPS to find caches that have been hidden in public places. If curious, go check out: http://www.geocaching.comOne of the things you can find in a cache is something called a "travel bug". This is an item that has a trackable tag on it. It has it's own page on the above site, and you can track its travels. Well, I picked up a travel bug named "Taco". He's a little parrot. He wants to go to California. I wanted to leave him in a cache when I was down in Illinois, however the two we selected and tried to get to, the trails were just still so covered in ice, and my team didn't have good walking wear. So, the travel bug is still in my possession. I'll need to very soon maybe go find a cache down in Madison and drop it off. I don't want to keep it in my possession for too long. But he got to meet a hawk, and my sister and her family, as well as Sydney, the military macaw, who lives with my friend Darla.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
2007 Lady Hawkers Meet
On the weekend of March 2 through 4 I traveled down to Illinois for the main purpose of attending the 2007 Lady Hawkers Meet. This is hosted every year by Bernie and George Richter with SOAR (Save Our American Raptors). The drive down was absolutely horrible! The weather we have been having whipped up, and I drove most of the 8 hours of what normally is a 5 hour trip at 30 to 40 mph in snow and ice and high blowing winds. Many cars were off the road, and I wanted to get to my destination and not have the same fate . . . for I traveled with a hawk in a box, and two big dogs in the back seat. I did not want to have to find myself stranded!! So it was slow going! I stayed at a friend's house, which I'll write about in the next blog.
I arrived at about 10:45 on the day of the event to meet and greet the ladies, some who have become familiar faces, and enjoy some hot coffee and various pastries. By about 12:30 we geared up and headed out to hunt. The weather continued to be absolutely miserable! It was cold and the wind was blowing. We hunted our usual field. I volunteered to go first. After casting Nina off, and working down the field a little, she caught the wind and took off for a far tree line way beyond where we would normally hunt. For about the next 45 minutes she moved in and out, trying hard to use the wind to her advantage. We flushed a few bunnies for her, but she never got a really good slip. After mucking through the field in wet boots, after stomping through what I thought was frozen ice, I called her down. Many of the women had already moved off further down the field, and were trying to fly the second bird.
We caught up with the group in time to find out that few other bunnies had been flushed, and nothing had been caught yet. Just as the group was about to leave Heather Henry's bird, Brenna, got a slip, did a pretty wing over, and crashed into a field of cattails. For a few minutes Heather walked that field looking for her bird, who made good use of the delay to eat most of the head of her 91st rabbit. YES . . . I said 91!! This bird has been just running her falconer ragged this season. And all this after having fought West Nile Virus, and a shocking on a pole that was fortunately not fatal!
Just as we were about to leave, a few ladies pointed out there was one last corner of the field that had not been worked. They asked me if I'd like to stand on top of a hill with Nina as they worked that last corner. I decided, why not! So I stood upon the hill for a bit, but Nina is just not used to fist hawking. She bated, and I let her fly. She went a short distance, and flew to the top of a rather heavily laden power pole. These things make me so nervous!! But it turned out she was fine. I had now moved off the hill and was walking up the nearby road when the group of ladies pushed out one last bunny. It ran onto the road, and under a truck of some people who were looking on, and beyond. In the meantime, Nina came off her power pole and pursued. The folks in the truck at first thought she might hit the truck, but she cruised over it, and caught up with the bunny on the other side, rolling and tumbling in the middle of the road. It all happened in front of us all there to see. Very pretty! I moved her off the road and onto the nearby grass to dispatch bunny and reward her efforts with the lure.
By the time we walked back to where all the cars were parked, everyone had pretty much left. We only had a few pictures from the beginning. No one wanted to stand around for any length of time, for it as just too cold.
Back at the SOAR facilities we got to watch a kestrel catch a baggie mouse. And then the rest of us caught a lot of food. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting, eating, and then the raffle. I only won a little fondue kit, which I traded with someone for a pair of gloves. So, I now have a new right-handed glove . . . oh and another leftie that will go unused! Anyone need a leftie glove?
Thanks to my friend and former sponsor Dave Noble for donating a pair of bells for me to put in the raffle. Thanks to all the ladies who make the event possible. And thank you to Bernie and George who are such wonderful hosts . . . even if the weather was terrible!
The gathering room and education facilities at SOAR. Bernie is engaged in lively conversation with her guests, many fellow women falconers that she has trained.
Heather Henry and her mother.
Dixie, the kestrel, and her quarry. It may be small, but it is what a kestrel hunts!
Dixie's falconer, Jane Seitz, who manages the Illinois Raptor Center.
Here I am securing Nina's 28th bunny. We moved off onto the grass so we would not be run over.
The 2007 Lady Hawkers . . . well, those that were in the picture. There were about 7 people taking pictures too! Four hawks were brought to fly. Only three are pictured here. Heather Henry is on the far left with Brenna, her bird from last year. I'm next with Nina, who also flew here last year. On the right is Laura Kirby with Shyla, a juvenile and newly trapped and trained bird this year. I never saw the fourth bird!
Nina, just after I struck the hood, as we started off the hawking adventures!
I arrived at about 10:45 on the day of the event to meet and greet the ladies, some who have become familiar faces, and enjoy some hot coffee and various pastries. By about 12:30 we geared up and headed out to hunt. The weather continued to be absolutely miserable! It was cold and the wind was blowing. We hunted our usual field. I volunteered to go first. After casting Nina off, and working down the field a little, she caught the wind and took off for a far tree line way beyond where we would normally hunt. For about the next 45 minutes she moved in and out, trying hard to use the wind to her advantage. We flushed a few bunnies for her, but she never got a really good slip. After mucking through the field in wet boots, after stomping through what I thought was frozen ice, I called her down. Many of the women had already moved off further down the field, and were trying to fly the second bird.
We caught up with the group in time to find out that few other bunnies had been flushed, and nothing had been caught yet. Just as the group was about to leave Heather Henry's bird, Brenna, got a slip, did a pretty wing over, and crashed into a field of cattails. For a few minutes Heather walked that field looking for her bird, who made good use of the delay to eat most of the head of her 91st rabbit. YES . . . I said 91!! This bird has been just running her falconer ragged this season. And all this after having fought West Nile Virus, and a shocking on a pole that was fortunately not fatal!
Just as we were about to leave, a few ladies pointed out there was one last corner of the field that had not been worked. They asked me if I'd like to stand on top of a hill with Nina as they worked that last corner. I decided, why not! So I stood upon the hill for a bit, but Nina is just not used to fist hawking. She bated, and I let her fly. She went a short distance, and flew to the top of a rather heavily laden power pole. These things make me so nervous!! But it turned out she was fine. I had now moved off the hill and was walking up the nearby road when the group of ladies pushed out one last bunny. It ran onto the road, and under a truck of some people who were looking on, and beyond. In the meantime, Nina came off her power pole and pursued. The folks in the truck at first thought she might hit the truck, but she cruised over it, and caught up with the bunny on the other side, rolling and tumbling in the middle of the road. It all happened in front of us all there to see. Very pretty! I moved her off the road and onto the nearby grass to dispatch bunny and reward her efforts with the lure.
By the time we walked back to where all the cars were parked, everyone had pretty much left. We only had a few pictures from the beginning. No one wanted to stand around for any length of time, for it as just too cold.
Back at the SOAR facilities we got to watch a kestrel catch a baggie mouse. And then the rest of us caught a lot of food. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting, eating, and then the raffle. I only won a little fondue kit, which I traded with someone for a pair of gloves. So, I now have a new right-handed glove . . . oh and another leftie that will go unused! Anyone need a leftie glove?
Thanks to my friend and former sponsor Dave Noble for donating a pair of bells for me to put in the raffle. Thanks to all the ladies who make the event possible. And thank you to Bernie and George who are such wonderful hosts . . . even if the weather was terrible!
The gathering room and education facilities at SOAR. Bernie is engaged in lively conversation with her guests, many fellow women falconers that she has trained.
Heather Henry and her mother.
Dixie, the kestrel, and her quarry. It may be small, but it is what a kestrel hunts!
Dixie's falconer, Jane Seitz, who manages the Illinois Raptor Center.
Here I am securing Nina's 28th bunny. We moved off onto the grass so we would not be run over.
The 2007 Lady Hawkers . . . well, those that were in the picture. There were about 7 people taking pictures too! Four hawks were brought to fly. Only three are pictured here. Heather Henry is on the far left with Brenna, her bird from last year. I'm next with Nina, who also flew here last year. On the right is Laura Kirby with Shyla, a juvenile and newly trapped and trained bird this year. I never saw the fourth bird!
Nina, just after I struck the hood, as we started off the hawking adventures!Thursday, March 01, 2007
Rare Visitor!
Check out who has been getting some suet from my feeder lately. That's a female Pileated Woodpecker. Almost the largest North American Woodpecker. The only one that is larger is the Ivory Bill, which has only recently been discovered to NOT be extinct, although exactly at what level of endangered it is, I don't know. Besides, they are also down south in the swamps. Pileates are not endangered, but they are incredibly shy, and don't normally come to a feeder. She must be pretty hungry! I've seen her visiting, and finally today, because I had a full day to sit in front of the window and work on my homework, I saw her fly into the nearby tree. At this point I got set up near the window and waited. Eventually, she felt safe enough and flew down for a snack. I then caught her picture. Maybe not magazine quality, but good enough to prove her visit!
