Falcons

One of the most spectacular sights in nature is seeing a Falcon stoop down and strike its prey at speeds that can be over 300 kph. Key to this is training the bird to 'mount' very high in the sky and 'wait on' as the prey is flushed. Like so many things, it has been American ingenuity and insight that has developed the training technique to achieve this. Before the hunting season opens I will Kite/Balloon my birds until they are regularly mounting up high above me. Later in the training the Kite/Balloon will be dispensed with and the bird will have learned that it needs to 'fly high' to hunt successfully.
	Putting on the chaps because the training field is sodden wet and I will be getting down and dirty. As there is little wind I will be using the balloon instead of the kite today.
	Hauling the anchor, reel, lure and balloon out into the middle of the field.
Garnishing the lure with half a quail.
Letting the balloon rise 50' and then clipping the quick release to the tether line and securing the lure with the slip carabiner..
	The lure line with a strip of gaffer tape to act as a flag so the whip as the falcon strikes the lure does not flick it around the balloon tether line and tangle. The one end of the carabiner also weighted for the same reason and ensuring that the wide end slides on the line as the falcon and lure 'raft' down the tether line.
	Up goes the ballon and lure
Until it is at least 1000' above the field.
	My falcons hooded in the back of the truck. Both females. 'Sage' - Intermewed Prairie and 'Attu' passage Peale's Peregrine
'Sage' - will be first to fly. Beautiful Eastern Washington Prairie falcon from a Yakima nest.
Sage beginning to 'mount up'.
	Sage nearly 1000' up and approaching th lure dangling 50' below the balloon.
	After the falcon hits the lure, the quick release has pulled free from the ballon tether, The falcon is bound to the lure and rafting with it down the tether line.
Falcon mantled over the lure. I wait for her to feed for a while.
Slowly and carefuly 'making in' to an irascible female.
	I never fail to get a 'rush' realizing how privileged I am to be able to train a falcon to mount up high in the air over my head. Then 'wait on' for either me, or my dog, to flush some game under it. Followed by one of natures spectacles, the stoop of a falcon.
	Hooded and headed back to the truck.
As the days get shorter... and fall older... and the hunting season is still young...., we will be joined by Eva. She is my English Pointer bitch. We will head out to the flats of the Stillaguamish and Skagit deltas and Lecque Island to look for roosters... or ducks
It is right over there!
	Happy hunter!
With a Green-winged Teal!
	Or out on the Skagit flats across the bay from my house. A perfect world where falcon and dog and hunter and quarry have all come together to play out one of the most ancient radiions in human history. The tradition of Falconry.
A Peale's Peregrine in her element. With the hen Mallard she has just taken. If all goes well I will be able to stop at my favorite beach, close to home, to toast success with a swig or two on the irish flask. To tarry a tad and give thanks to the opportunities life has presented me. To be thankful that I am able to live in this beautiful part of the world where sea and sand and sky and snow all seem to meet.