Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Change of Plans

Something exciting and unusual has happened today. I was talking with my Sponsor, Rudy, and it turns out that he has acquired a juvenile female cooper's hawk that was on it's way out. Apparently, he got a phone call from a friend who came across the bird in a parking lot. It was hardly able to stand when Rudy came to see it. He took it home and is nursing it back to health. He is very excited about the bird, I guess it is really really tame even now that she is starting to gain her strength back, which, according to Rudy, is very unusual. He is reluctant to release such a find since "passage" Cooper's hawks are difficult to come-by so he is trying to find her a falconry home.

I cannot have a bird besides a red-tail or a red-shoulder until I can upgrade my permit to General Falconer. Lucky for me, my upgrade is due in about 3 months. Rudy said he wouldn't mind putting the bird on his permit and hanging on to it for 3 months until I get my upgrade. So, I'm putting the red-tail hunting on hold in light of this very unusual opportunity. After I get my upgrade, he is going to transfer the bird to me. I am lucky in that I kept Musket for so long and hunted her for two seasons, so I will qualify for my General permit whether or not I trap a bird this fall.

What this means is no squirrel hawking in Texas and no Falconry hunting for me until the season is half-over. Also, Rudy tells me that you can't hunt a Cooper's hawk on squirrels, they are just too dangerous for their little feet, so I'll have to work hard to find some nice bunny hunting areas since Migratory Bird Season will most likely be over by the time I can get this bird. We may have to do some conventional small game hunting to build up on hawk-food. This probably means also that I'll be keeping my bunny breeding project going.

It's a crazy opportunity. I've worked so hard trying to find my new bird and have not come up with anything yet. I'm taking it as a sign. The next bird I wanted to do was a Cooper's hawk, so I'm very pleased that I will be able to do it sooner than later. Rudy is a austringer- which means he hunts with accipiters- and he's been doing it for over 40 years. I wanted to learn the techniques from the best, and for accipiters, he's about the top of the pile.

Wish me luck! Rudy will be taking a vacation in November, and he'll need me to watch the bird for him while he's gone, so I'll get to spend at least some time with her before I get to take possession.

What a strange and exciting turn of events. I'm a little sad that I won't be trying to catch my next red-tail, but this is something that I cannot pass up.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Cold Front Update

Well, the cold front did bring some birds, but not the ones I want, unfortunately. Hazen and I have seen an adult ("Haggard" in the falconry world) red-tail almost every day we've gone out. Those birds weren't here last week, so it's an improvement. We've also seen an explosion in Red-Shouldered Hawks. I don't know if we're just getting better at spotting birds, but there sure seems to be a lot out there.


If this wasn't my last apprentice year, I'd be tempted to try a kestrel. I've seen probably a dozen or so birds with consistency. They're pretty darnned cute, but I think you hunt bugs with them or maybe sparrows, I'm not really sure. I am starting to re-think my desire to get a small male, I may just have to settle for whatever I can get. But any hunting partner is better than no hunting partner!

Eventually, I'll have something more interesting to post. My life has pretty much revolved around looking for a bird.


I took of yesterday afternoon and I might take off today too. My boss dug up 6 camelias from his yard. I'm going to see if they'll take in mine so I can get those early blooming flowers.


I took some time to snap some nice pictures of butterflies in our "weed" garden. I'll include some here. Right now it's awash with buzzing life of all kinds. It's great!






Thanks for all the encouragement everyone! I'm really looking forward to squirrel hawking in Texas this year!