Widow 5/13/08

May 13, 2008

Â

Temperature 64’

Wind 6-14 mph

This afternoon I went up to the mountain and planned to bag Widow on a pheasant.

I didn’t drive all the way up because if she caught the pheasant way down in the valley I’d have to carry her all the way back up the hill. So I parked at the rim and launched her from there. She flew over to the next ridgeline and landed. I figured I’d have to walk across the main hillside to get her over to where the lift was better. Not that she didn’t want to fly, but I wanted her to come over me before I released the bagged pheasant. I do not want Widow to settle for coming off the side of the hill and catching pheasants that have landed and are now running along. that’s not what I am looking for. Once Widow followed me across the face of the mountain she worked her way up the side and was, in no time, gaining height. I then walked back down and went out on a bench that juts out from the side of the mountain. Now the trick was to get her attention focused on me so that she would come over. Taking a guess I’d say Widow was 1500 feet up in the air, and coming towards me. I flashed the pheasant in my glove at first because Widow has never been bagged like this and may not know what a pheasant is and, therefore, not go after it. By flashing it she would think Oh, that’s food’ and want it. She was coming in my direction so I threw the pheasant straight up in the air. It turned and flew uphill. Why? I have no clue, probably because it’s a bag, I guess. Widow at first hesitated and then folded up and stooped on the pheasant. I am not sure if the pheasant saw Widow and tried to dump or just landed. The whole thing looked a little funny but, regardless, Widow caught it!

This was not unlike bagging a falcon for the first time. They see the bag and hesitate, then go after it; same thing here. Many a time the pheasant lands and the young falcon catches it on the ground; same here. It takes 2-3 more bags, released at the right moment, to get things going in the right direction. I expect this will be no different with an eagle. Can an eagle take a pheasant in the air in full flight? Yes, I think they can. In the wild they catch sage grouse which are many times faster and harder to catch than a pheasant. But, like I said, I am not interested in flights off the side of a hill, ending with birds caught on the ground. So it will take some work. I would grade today’s flight a C-. She did react and chase the pheasant and would have struck it in the air if given the opportunity