Widow 4/30/08

April 30, 2008

The temperature has gone cold again, 45’ late this afternoon with snow flurries. Cordi and I went up to the mountain where the wind was strong and held the promise of good eagle flying. I unhooded Widow in the back of the truck and she launched from there, catching the wind and was gone over the cliff. We walked along the steep mountainside and made our way down to a bench that is at the bottom of the canyon. When we looked back, Widow was a pin dot in the cloud filled sky. I started dragging the lure along the ground, running down across the bench. Widow came over directly above us, probably

3-4 thousand feet up. Thinking back on the flight, I don’t think she saw the lure at first because she didn’t really react but then suddenly she folded up her wings and came straight down. just a magnificent stoop! Widow went back up at least 6 more times. One flight was particularly nice. I had called her to the lure by dragging it straight at Cordi, who was filming. Widow stooped and came in with feet hanging down, ready to pound the lure. I fed her a chunk of quail, cast her off, and she left the fist going back up into another soar. I stooped her once again, right at the camera so much fun!

As we were running around filming and flying Widow I happened across this very young rattlesnake coiled up in the mouth of a gopher hole. It’s clearly not a western diamond back rattlesnake; I’ll have to look it up. We left him where we found him. Beautiful snake