Sabre’s Release

After almost 3 years of Sabre as my hunting partner, she was released back into the wild on a rainy mothers day. She was in good health and is happy to be back soaring among the clouds.

She was released this spring as a promise to her the day I trapped her, as with all the raptors that I trap from the wild. I do enjoy them for a period of time, and then it is my belief that they should go back to where they came from to continue to be a part of the natural world. Each falconer has their own beliefs for how long a period of stay they should have as a hunting partner.

So as I look forward to a summer of bird-free maintenance and trapping a new hunting partner in the fall.

Summer 2018 Update

Summer 2018 Update

It has been a long time since an update and a post of any significance to this blog, or for that matter, to any other social media outlet.  With the propensity for articles, pictures, sound-bytes, and posts to go viral, I never know when these adventures will get singled out by someone who has a polarizing opinion on the subject of Falconry. You just never know what is going to set someone off that will forward the post throughout the interwebs and have some warped opinion come out on the other end of it. With my experience with other falconry forums, NAFA Directors, and facebook trolls, I’m leery of posting anything remotely attackable. So, I’ll provide an update to a few choice projects and leave this here as a historical record of this summer. 

Birds

The moult for the summer is in full swing for both Sabre and Vesper.  Daily chores continue to include keeping the mews clean and getting the birds some perch / air time out of the mews.  Feathers continue to drop steadily and new feathers are growing steadily.  Both birds are going through a wonderful transformation into their adult plumage and it is a privilege to witness up close. 

Mews Update

Kelly and I continue to build a new mews for the birds with Vesper as the eventual habitant.  In addition, we expect to install a second chamber onto the first. It’s not an ideal setup, but we are making it work as best we can with the space and materials available. By the end of the summer, there will be room for 3 birds and the deck will be clear of the current mews. 

Club Activities

As a continued participating member of the MHC, the spring Apprentice Workshop was a huge success, pulling in folks from around the state.  With the help of other falconers, the instructional team that puts on the workshop is top-notch with great stories and informative slide shows.   The Summer picnic is coming up at the end of July, so we’ll all meet again for another day of falconry fun in Lansing this year. Later on in the summer, we’ll go back down to Lake Erie Metropark for HawkFest. Then the trapping gets going and all of the fall falconry and hunting events is in full swing.  

 

-C

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Magee Marsh 2018

Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Magee Marsh 2018

Out Birding today at the Ottawa National refuge with my Adventure Girl! 69 different species spotted today. That’s a great day! 

 

Here’s the full list of birds we kept as a record of our adventures today:

Bald eagle
Purple Martin
Red wing blackbird
tree swallows
Canada geese
Flicker
Snowy Egret
Great blue heron
American robin
Cormorant
Goldfinch
Purple finch
White egret
Cardinal
Wood ducks
Downy woodpecker
Mallard duck
Grackle
Nuthatch
Cooper’s Hawk
Bluejay
Trumpeter Swan
Kildeer
Swamp sparrow
Sandhill crane
Starling
Blue wing teal
Brown headed cowbird
Lesser yellowlegs
Northern shoveler
Ruby crown d kinglet
Yellow rumpled warbler
House wren
Blue grey gnatcatcher
Barn swallow
Chickadee
Redtail hawk
Pied billed grebe
Green heron
White crowned sparrow
Palm warbler
Yellow warbler
Downy woodpecker
Brown thrasher
American coot
Common turn
Caspian turn
Ring billed gull
Herring full
Ring neck ducks
Lesser scaup
Golden Crowned king
Pine warbler
Brewers blackbird
Rusty blackbird
Woodcock
Hermit thrush
Turkey vulture
Pine warbler
Red bellied woodpecker
Bonapartes gulls
Dark eyed junco
Ruddy duck
Song sparrow
American kestrel

Chipping Sparrow

House Sparrow

Sharp-shinned Hawk