Finally - "Percy" and "Tootsie" are in hand.

In 1997 I roamed, what seemed like, 2000 miles to catch a bird. Having a few seasons and different birds under my belt I was more confident that I would be able to easily trap a falconry bird this year. I wanted a red tail because I, obviously have experience with them and, two feel as though I would best be able to fly a red tail at rabbits on a consistent basis this season. That being said I would have liked to have more time to create masterpiece traps, but the valued commidity of time eluded me until the last minute. Unfortunately, the constuction on my mews didn't start until mid to late October and I found myself behind the proverbial eight ball on trying to find a passage red tail. All my old haunts were filled with mature birds. I roamed every corner of Fayette County, Iowa only to see haggard after haggard. Which, in November, is what was to be expected. After talking to my former sponsor I headed south towards Cedar Rapids, Iowa in search of the, thus far elusive, passage red tail hawk. But I get ahead of myself let me back up...

Half of my pigeons escaped two days after trapping them. So last night (Thursday, November 20, 2008) my two oldest nephews of my youngest sister (how is that for confusing) went out to snatch a few more piegeons to add to my last three. The weather was a brisk 10 degrees. We scored on a couple sites and ended up in "virgin" pigeon harvesting territory. Needless to say I am happy I am here today because last night I almost died... Of laughter. When the weather gets cold like it did, puddles of water tend to freeze. Then water freezes on an incline it makes for howling - I couldn't catch my breath - laughter when BOTH nephews fall, the last one falling and sliding about 15 feet. We joked that it was a waterslide for the homeless (sorry to hurt your feelings if you are homeless and reading this). So in the span of a couple weeks I have had two opportunities to win $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos - the first referenced here. I do have to send a shout out to all my nephews of my youngest sister - thanks for helping me catch pigeons. Here is the only photo that I have of all of them together. Seriously, I do owe them thanks because I am not as nimble as I was - back in the day. :-)

So armed with a new battalion of pigeons I hit the trail again (this being my first day off since Sunday). As I referred to earlier I went back to the Cedar Rapids area and spent the greater half of the morning seeing nothing. Finally, I went back to where we had deployed on a passage on Sunday. Sure enough there was a young bird just off Highway 30 east of the City. I put out my BC and didn't even get a second look. Then I decided to put out the HP with the same results. It is completely frustrating to see the potential way I want to spend a hunting season sitting sitting in a tree oblivious to my feeble attempts to trap it. I ended up picking up from the first deployment and trying again with both the BC and the HP. No luck again. Traffic on highway 30 at this time was extremely busy. Which made for an interesting time.

The bird ended up bumping about 150 feet (across an intersection) away. I pick up and turned around and this time deployed just the HP. I went to an area and waited and watched. And waited. And waited. While waiting I tied some knots and kept telling myself that I would show perseverence in this since the writing was on the wall for this season. I don't know total time on this one but it ended up with the bird diving on a mouse and paying little attention to the fresh HP within "slicing distance". My last glimpse was the passage red tail doing the "marsh hawk" hovering technique well away from my HP. I was completely bummed out. I decided I would pick up and head home empty-handed. I had to go "around the horn" on the four lane highway to get to my HP. As I pull up I see a red tail on my pigeon. Since I was too close to get away without causing a stir I just sat and watched. After a couple minutes I see the attempt to fly and the red tail drop - a talon clearly caught. I might add that last night while waiting for nightfall I cut all the nooses off my HP rig and retied them with a new style noose I learned recently. Plus I put LESS nooses on it. As it turns out it was the right choice. The irony on this one was... I was actually nervous. All the other attempts didn't elicit half the jitters as this one did. Seeing the attempt to fly I manuevered my vehicle and jumped out to put the 'habeas grabas' on the redtail while thinking please hold nooses - please hold. Sure enough they held. So I gather it up and put it in my truck and right away jesse and leash it up and name it "Percy" (Perseverence). Comparitively, this bird seems huge compared to my memory of Magellan, who flew at 32 ounces (907 grams). This bird weight in at a trapped weight of 1078 grams.

I also grabbed a passage female Kestrel which I am taking the weekend debating whether or not to keep her. The weight management issue dictates that the bird should be kept inside which is nice for the kids to experience falconry, but I don't know if I should tie up a slot on my general license. I am sure I can get it slips, but getting it consistent slips is the real issue I am weighing. "Ernie" (short for Ernestine) was my intended name but I was vetoed by my three year old. She called it Tootsie (pronounced to her Two-tsy) after Tootsie Rolls. Tootsie is readily taking tidbits and hopping to me. While I complete the obligatory 3-186A and prepare for a Monday mailing I debate the merits of keeping the kestrel.


I hope to post some photos later.