My Mistake

After cropping Katana up on Sunday, she should not have needed to eat until yesterday. That was true of last season anyway. I came home last night and weighed Katana, and I am ashamed to say that she was down to 850 grams. She has NEVER been that low, and I was scared. She was acting fine, very alert and still bated but nonetheless I was concerned. I imeediately perched her in the living room and fed her a plucked quail. I did not fully crop her up, but gave her about 100 grams. I left her in the living room for a bit after she ate, and she seemed to be doing fine. I put her in the box for the night to keep her calm, and it is also getting quite chilly in the evenings. I weighed her again this morning and she is up to 895 grams but I brought her to work anyway. She still had a little food in her crop, so I will feed her some more in a few hours. She is staying in the box until I get her weight back up, and then I will put her back in the mews. I learned a valuable lesson last night - never to take anything for granted. Her metabolism is obviously quicker than last season, and I must keep an eye on her weight more closey. Lesson learned, and thankfully everything worked out ok. Whew!

Awesome weekend!

What a fantastic weekend! We started out hunting after work on Friday, and kept on going through til Sunday night. Noel and I are trying to find some new fields closer to work and along our carpool route, so that is what we did. The first field we went to had a very large pole right in the center. I was exstatic when Katana chose to perch there. I knew that if we kicked anything up not only would she see it, but the flight would be amazing. Alas, we were unable to produce any game, even with Deacon running around like he was on fire. Needless to say, it was HOT. We headed to the bar to have a brew and wait for the weather to cool. We hit one more new field on Friday, and came up again empty handed. She did follow well though, and her perch selection was good. 900 grams
Saturday, I took her to a couple of fields. She had some great chases, the cover is just really thick. She did come barreling out of a tree to grab a large rat, so she has officially taken her first head of game for the season. 890 grams
On Sunday, I flew her even longer. We hit 3 different fields and her following and perch selection is gradually getting better. She had some very close chases, as well as some really long ones. In the last field on the way to the car she stooped of a high pole to slam a rabbit. I heard the all too forgotten cries as I made my way towards her. Continuing my methods from last year, I did not run. Again the thought behind it is that she will never be able to handle a jack if she can't keep control of a cottontail. I am assuming that she was exhausted at this point, and unfortunately the rabbit got away just as I was nearing. Does not matter though, we had an excellent weekend and I look forward to flying her again. 895 grams

Hotter that Hot!

The falconry itch caught me 2 weekends ago....when it was cool. This weekend was true to Texas weather, a blistering 90+ degrees when we set out to hunt. We set out to one of our favorite fields from last year, and all I can say was wow. The cover was so thick, that we could not even fing the brush piles. I released Katana, and she immediately perched in a low nearby tree. We worksed the area beneath her and continued on towards the brush piles. It took her a few moments to follow, but she then took to the wing and began flying circles overhead. It almost seemed like she was remembering how to fly, and after a few moments she settled ahead of us into a tall tree. We worked the area and finally kicked up a rabbit. It immediately took off across the open field and Katana followed in hot pursuit. She flew long and hard but the rabbit made cover before she closed the gap. I did get to hear the familiar crash that I have grown to love. She got back up and settled over head once again, and followed us relatively well as we continued working beneath her. She had 2 more flights, probably rats, as she crashed the brush once again. After about half and hour, I called her to the lure and she was amply rewarded for her efforts on the first hunt of the season. By then we were all melting, as the heat was pounding down upon us. I am very happy with her performance, and hope this will be a great forshadow of the upcoming season! Weight 945 grams

So much closer...

Due to the fact that school keeps me out past dark, I have to work Katana in the house on most weekday evenings. I came home and immediately perched her in the living room for about an hour while I did some homework, and then I set her up to do some jumps ups. This time there was no hesitation, and her response was immediate everytime. We did about 25 jump ups before I pulled the lure, and she immediately came to it. I had her tethered on a long leash in the house as I don't want to run the risk of her flying free and hurting herself. The lure flight was a short one due to this, but I think that she is definitely remembering the game. I will put her back outside on the creance on Friday, with hopes to take her to the field Sunday. I know that her hunts will start short (especially after learning my lesson from last year!) but I will be happy to get her back in the air for some excercise.
Weight: 995 grams

Moving outside

On Friday, I can home from work a little early, so I had plenty of time to get Katana acclimated to the living room. I set up a perch for her to sit on for a few hours, and when she finally calmed down we tried some jumps ups. At first, she stared at me like I was crazy, but after the first jump the light bulb went off in her head. Her response became instant, and I could tell it was all coming back to her. The lure response at the end way iffy, but she still jumps to it 5 feet away. All in all I must say her performance was good for this early on. She is also still a little fat.
Sunday, I went ahead and moved her outside on the creance. I only set up a 20 feet line, as I did not want to push her at the higher weight. Again, she was hesitant at first, but her response got better with each flight. There was also a lot of surounding noise and distraction, so I think where I creanced her worked out great. Her lure response at the end of the session was instant, but I use the term response very loosely. I think I work my little girl out, considering she immediately ran to the lure when called. We are getting closer to her weight, and I hope to have her out in the field by next weekend. Weight today was 1030 grams.