Lucky Number 13

Today was a very pleasant, all too early and tempting, but don't get your hopes up spring-like day. The sun was shining, and it got warm enough to begin melting a little of the snow. It was a dripping kind of day!

I started the day off visiting with my friend Patti from my old life. She still works at the place I used to work. We met up and had a coffee and something sweet at the Paneras. I then took her to my home, so she could see where I'm living now. After that, shopping and lunch. It was her birthday on Friday, and I have not seen her for awhile. It was good to catch up with her. She's a great friend . . . . one of the few in my life who has made an effort to keep in touch, and make me feel wanted.

After my visit I had enough time to gear up and get out with the bird. We went to the woods out behind where I work. The snow has drifted in some of those areas and is quite deep! Sometimes I felt like I was in quicksand, slogging out of drifts. Initially we flushed a squirrel, and Nina made a couple dives on it. It's funny, but when the squirrel makes a safe break for it, they chatter at you. It's almost like a taunt. Phil has mentioned this before too, and its true. Squirrels have a serious attitude! She quickly gave up on the squirrel, as I surprisingly flushed a bunny. She made a stoop on it, but missed, and I could not convince her to re-engage with the squirrel afterwards. We then spent the next half hour to fourty-five minutes mostly walking around, looking for something to chase. Almost to the end of the wooded area, I moved down into the valley behind it, and apparently flushed a bunny that was out catching some rays. I saw the bird make a dive for it, and the bunny cry. It's a good thing she does not need help with bunnies, for with the deep snow, it took me a couple minutes to get over to her. I dispatched the bunny, this is number 13, and decided to go ahead and let her feed up on the warm insides. That done, I began the long slog back to my car. No pictures, for what was left was not fit for pictures.

Spring break is in two weeks. This semester has been going by pretty quickly. Previously I had wanted to fly to New Mexico and meet up with my friend Sharon, and fly Nina on jackrabbits. However, the airlines would not let me transport the bird as luggage, but instead only as cargo. The charge for cargo was almost as high as if I purchased her a seat all her own. Somehow, I don't think I could get her to accept a seat belt, so I cancelled my plans. News this last week has changed those plans. My Uncle Calvin has experienced some health issues, and I thought it might be a good idea to make a visit. Also, my employer surprised me, and gave me the weekend after my vacation week off as well. That's nine days! This makes the trip do-able! I've contacted my sister, and she is willing to go with me to make the trip.

So, I hope to make the best of my opportunity, and fly Nina on jackrabbits. I hope she will chase them. I hope she will catch one. It would be like the "icing on the cake" of this final season with her.

Chomp

Again, today, it dawned terribly cold. About -7. This winter is really getting to be long. The snow is deep, the bunnies impossible to find, and the cold is really getting tedious and depressing. I've said it several times, but I am so ready for spring, even though for me this year, it will mean one more letting go, one more end of something significant in my life. But at least here, it is only for a season. I think I've mentioned here that I will be releasing Nina in the spring, in about 2 months. I will not replace her next season, as I know with my upcoming school schedule, I'm not going to have time. I will have mixed emotions about doing this. Though this bird drives me crazy sometimes, I've had some pretty good times getting out hunting with her. And because of her I've been able to meet many people, and invite them to go hawking with me. Most go out just once, then disappear. A few express interest to stick around a little longer. None are as passionate about the activity, other than my already established falconry friends . . . . and they all live too far away. It is something that I do, like so much else of my life, on my own.
Today by suggestion from Mike (Plant Doctor) I was guided to a new park that managed to escape my notice. Liz and I took the bird out to stretch her wings. Upon arriving I decided this place was perfect! I could see squirrels active in the trees, there were no houses too near by, and being a park I could leave my car without attracting attention. As we exited and got ready to get going, Liz noticed a hawk in the trees. After following her description, I discovered a cooper's hawk. It was just sunning itself in the tree. It stayed there the entire time we were in the park, only flushing in the end as we returned to the car, when Liz tried to take a picture of it.

We got Nina out and launched her as we crossed over to where some of the very large trees were. In very short order we had about four squirrels running. Nina picked a tree, selected her quarry and made several passes, and finally scraped #5 squirrel off the tree, and brought it down to the ground. Unlike all her other catches, she didn't have it's head, and it managed to bite her up her leg somewhere. Later, I checked her over several times, but could not find a bite. Hopefully she just got a pinch and bruise. But at the time it had her in such a way that she even squeaked at it. It surely must have hurt. I grabbed it by the head and it broke free from wherever it was biting, and Nina proceeded to grab my gloved hand and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. I think she was really pissed that she got bit! I dispatched the squirrel and traded Nina off onto her lure, with only a small garnishment. As she ate that I tucked away her prize with Liz' help. I then sent her up the trees to try again. There was still a black squirrel up there with no place to go. However, I think Nina lost her gaminess (or was sore) for she then perched and sulked, and would not engage. Liz and I walked around and tapped a few more trees, but she was not interested. So I pulled the lure, and she came down to it double-time. The single squirrel would have to do!

Though cold, it was a bright and sunny day. We got back to the car and tucked Nina away.
Then Liz and I stopped and picked up lo mein at the local Chinese restaurant for lunch. I'm so ready for spring . . . . but some days in the winter can still be fun!

I just hope Nina is OK! I did carefully inspect her later, but could not see any blood, or wound. Again, hopefully it was just a pinch!

Wedged - Stuck - Learning Patience

Today it dawned a very frigid -5, but it was a bright clear day. I had a few hours, and Nina was at weight, so I decided to go hawking, and invited my friend Mike (The Plant Doctor ~ to distinguish him from all the other Mikes I know) to come along. He's glad he accepted the invite.

The hunt started off rather like most of the ones I've been on these last couple months . . . a tough slog through very deep snow. I visited the annex field down from the one that is heavily defended by that resident hawk. I did see another bird while we were out, but Nina didn't chase it. She did begin flying into the surrounding neighborhood, and I did see a squirrel running up a pole where there was a transformer. I decided I did NOT want her chasing that, so flashed her the lure, and got her to come back. We worked the cattail bed for awhile, but it is so thick and deeply covered by snow the bunnies which I know are there, for I could see the sign, could not be kicked out. I had moved out and into the lane of trees, and was almost thinking we'd have to call it quits, when I flushed a squirrel. Nina obliged us by chasing it.

The actual chase lasted about three attempts, and on the final one she caught the tree rat, however, while tumbling out of the top branches with her prize, she became wedged up in the branches. Her two feet held the squirrel fast on one side of a branch. It was not dead, and did not die for the entire time she was up there. Her body was on the other side of the branch, with her wings outspread. Mike took a picture, but his camera is not nearly so good as Rich's camera. But you can get the general idea from this picture above. Nina did not appear to be in distress. She just wanted to take control of the situation, but did not dare let go of her prize, so had no feet to fix her predicament. The squirrel hung the entire time, approximately 20 minutes, squealing sometimes, as it had two hawk feet buried into its face, yet she did not have a killing grasp on it. Mike and I stood below, and could not believe what we were watching. All we could do was wait. I knew eventually she would adjust in some way, and would break free. The tree was just too tall for me to even consider climbing it. If my friend Aaron was around, he'd have probably been up it an down before I could blink. But I'm just not practiced at tree climbing.

So we waited!

Eventually, she did decide she no longer liked her position, and as the struggles of the squirrel became less and less, she let one foot go, and used that to gain a corrected position, and then broke free, and kited down to the snow. I quickly jumped in and helped to strangle her prize. It didn't take much. The poor thing was quite a mess even by this time. It then got smushed into the snow. At the end of the day, it was a pretty pathetic looking addition to the game bag. I did weigh it, and it was just shy of 2 lbs. It was quite a sizeable squirrel. But pretty pathetic looking!

So that makes squirrel #4. The bunnies are just terribly hard to find. To add insult to injury, there is one that lives in our yard, and I see it almost nightly as I come home from work. It lives under the mews, and leaves bunny tracks all over the yard. It's just lucky it lives in the city, and I don't dare release the bird to catch it. For today though, there is plenty of fresh squirrel for Nina to eat over the next week.

Snow Snow Snow

For those of you not living here in Wisconsin, here is just a small taste of what we've been going through. What I was digging out was the end of the driveway, where the snowplow the night before had blocked us in. It may not look very impressive at this time, but this video was taken a good half hour into the project, and I had already removed a goodly portion of it. Sorry for any dizziness this may cause. Liz turned it sideways for awhile! I can't check right now, but we've had at least 50 inches of snow this winter. Some of it has melted, but it's starting to get rediculous!

What I said while digging, and where you can't really hear, is that it was forcast to be 50 degrees today in Oregon. I'm thinking I might like to go there once I finish my training. At the time of this dig-out, the thermometer reached a high of about . . . . 3 degrees. Yeah!

Hawking Friends

Here at the end of the day we three hawkers posed for a quick picture. Myself with Nina, Dave with Becky, and Phil with Belle. I'm wondering what the heck the birds saw, for all three seem to be paying attention to the same thing.

Many thanks to Laurie Yurtis, Phil's wife, for her photography expertise. I did not take many pictures this time out, so have relied on several she has taken. You got yourself a great family there Phil!!

I'll return soon to write up more here, and post some more pictures. For now . . . . off to bed with me. School and work tomorrow. SIGH!!

Here I am just after Nina caught bunny #12. I'm pointing at her breast, which is tangled with burdock. This hillside is quite infested with them. So was my own hair. You can look around and see the deep deep snow. Sun Prairie and Madison had received over 17 inches of snow in the previous days. The hawking was quite a workout.

I'll return soon with more pictures, as I acquire them. It was a great weekend seeing and visiting with friends . . . . and taking our birds out together.

Wisconsin Falconry Meet 2008

This is a first for me, and apparently has not been done for a long time for the Club. Someone had the bright idea to have a group shot. Someone else (me) suggested we wait a moment, and everyone get their birds. It was a freezing cold day, but what a group! Several of these people I consider my very good friends. What a group to be associated with!

Fierce Predator - and Beautiful!

Be sure to click on each of these pictures for a close-up.

I love this bird! Even though she drives me crazy sometimes! I'll miss her once I let her go, here in just a couple months. Here are some nice pictures to remember her by.

On Wednesday I had enough time between my morning classes and my evening classes to get Nina out for some exercise. This is about all we've been doing of late. Just tromping along in the snow (me) and flying from tree to tree (her). Game has been very hard to find. I called and invited Rich to join me for the outting, hoping maybe his luck would help us get to bunny #12, or squirrel #4. On short notice he was able to meet up with me, and we went driving out West Salem way. I did find a nice little patch that had rabbit sign. We got out and flew the area. We did bump a single bunny, but Nina was not placed well to take advantage of the situation, so missed. We followed where it went, but it had found someplace good to tuck in. After combing the area there was no more activity, so we packed up and moved on. We then just drove some of the back roads, not finding much. I decided, with time starting to get short, to stop at the Veteran's park yet again and try my luck. Here we did stir up a single squirrel who ran headlong mad-dash out into the thin branches and leap out of his tree, down to the ground (with hawk very close behind) and up another tree and into a hole. Dem tree rats can be very fast! The rest of the time was just tromping around and tapping trees. So Rich's lucky streak is broken, but at least we did have a couple slips for the bird to exercise by. He took a few nice pictures which I've posted here.

This weekend is the Wisconsin Falconry Meet in Sun Prairie. They got a lot of snow this last week. It is forcast to be blowing cold, as usual. I think of the last 5 years only once did we have a really nice day for the meet. Bring lots of layers!!!! I hope to get some pictures, and see my friends. Liz also had some tickets for a gardening expo there in Madison for the weekend. I think on Sunday, when it is to be only like 5 degrees, I'll go visit that . . . . and see some green!

Is Spring coming soon?

Backyard Hawking . . . . or "How to Piss off the Locals"

I'll keep this brief! I need to go get my shower and get ready for work. I just finished having lunch with my house-mate, and I'm somewhat calmed down now. Somewhat! The "beauty" of a blog is that it affords me a forum to bitch when I feel the need. That tends to be a characteristic of many of the political blogs out there. I try to keep mine nice, but life can be uncomfortable sometimes. And I feel a need to rant!

Liz and I were going to go hawk back behind Gundersen, where I work. But along the way I decided to try out the other side of Losey by Hixon Forest, and Myrick Park. There is a nice woody area along the marsh. We got out and walked it, and Nina was following well enough, but I wasn't producing anything for her, even though there was game sign. Then, just about the time we were going to leave, she flew off with purpose over the road and into the neighborhood on the other side. No amount of tidbit and whistling was bringing her, so we crossed to the other side under the bridge and went looking for her.

I found her in one of those nice neighborhood yards along the golf course. Get the picture?? Can we say $$$$$$. I went to the door, knocked, and introduced myself to the couple who came to the door. I told them I was a licensed falconer, that I had been flying my bird in the marsh, but she flew over to this side of the road, and was in their tree in the back yard, and could I go get her. The man said "sure". I told him she was chasing the squirrels. I asked if he minded if I let her continue to do that. He said "sure" again. So off I went. I had PERMISSION to be there!!!! I went out back, and assessed what was going on. Nina was up a sizable tree, and after a bit I realized there was a squirrel there. Well, once she bumped the tree rat, I guess the lady inside, not liking that her husband had given permission, or realize that he HAD given permission, came out the back door and said, "You need to get that bird out of here RIGHT NOW". She then commenced to yell at me that how dare I have such a dangerous animal in the city, that the squirrels were her pets, and that I'd better not ever come back or she would call the police on me. Hmmmmm . . . . I was given permission! Now it was being revoked. Thank goodness Nina listened to me and broke off her chase when I produced the lure. She was her typical cantakerous self as I secured her. All I wanted to do was get out of there.

I don't like flying near houses. Unfortunately, game prospects have been pretty hard, and La Crosse is infested with squirrels. This woman is just a very good example of the mindset of a lot of people. Predators are "evil" and all those stupid rabbits and squirrels digging up their gardens and chewing through to get into their garages and attics and eating all their vegetables and bird seed, and girdling their trees are somehow "angelic" or something. I had a conversation with someone just like that recently. She commented how her husband loved the cardinals at his bird feeder, and hated those nasty hawks that come by, and that if they took one of said cardinals her husband would "deal with the situation". I asked her if that meant shooting it. She indicated in the positive. I asked her if she knew this was illegal. She didn't seem to care.

That is the problem with these city-bound suburbanites. They are not in touch with nature. Predation is a natural event. And it's tough being a predator!! They are not evil, they are just trying to eat. Hunting is not evil, but does help to maintain population balance, when we humans have gone and disrupted the balance by eliminating all the major predators. Our meat comes nicely packaged in plastic and styrofoam. The reality of where it comes from is lost on most grocery store patrons.

I wasn't trying to fly Nina in their neighborhood. And if they had not given permission, I would have called her down from the street. She pissed me off!

And I think she's an idiot!

And it's a good thing I'll be giving up falconry for a year or so while I continue to go to school. My hunting prospects are not that great here. And I'm tired of all the restrictions of the city.

Orchid

Be sure to click on this picture for a closeup. That bottom petal forms a little pitcher which is used for its pollination. Insects fall into it, and as they crawl out they must push past the reproductive organs of the flower, and pick up pollen. When they go to the next flower, they pollinate it!

Last night I dropped by and visited a friend of mine. He has a hobby of growing and reading about orchids. He has an impressive library of books about orchids. He has a very modest collection of actual plants started, which every once in awhile one will bloom. He had one blooming last night. I asked him if I could take a few pictures and post them here. He said I could. I've asked him to provide to me the scientific name for this specimen, so it is forthcoming. He has several other that are going to bloom in the next few months, so I'll have to stop by and check those out when that happens. He also plans to go to an orchid show down in Madison this weekend. He assures me he'll be adding to his collection!

Update: The name is Paphiopedilum delenatii (paf-ee-oh-PED-juh-lum dela naughty i)

This is the entire plant, in a light setting. The leaves are actually quite interesting. I should have gotten a closeup of those!

Same plant, in a darker setting.