Oh, Hi. I Totally Didn't See You There!

     So, ya know, sorry about the major lapse there.

     I have a kestrel now. Her name is CeCe. I'm almost ready to free fly her, but I'm still getting her "wed" to the lure. Her manning is going very well. I know that she knows how to kill a sparrow now. I don't think she did when we trapped her. Just getting her attached to the lure enough to free fly her.

     My sparrow trap got stolen, so I built another one but this one isn't working as well. Perfect timing since I will need baggies possibly as soon as wednesday.

UPDATE!!

Soooooooo... Breakfast the mouse had twelve pups (now ten). I finished making all of my equipment. I went to my first IFA meet. I moved my platform perch into my room. I mailed in my Falconry Permit Application today along with the letter from my sponsor. My inspection will be (hopefully) early next week. And I'm going to start trapping and probably catch a kestrel next week.
:)

House Finch Update

     The baby house finches are now being cared for at the Ruth Melichar Bird Sanctuary. The people there commented on how they'd been fed. I think that they took that to mean that I picked up a couple of chicks that were still being cared for by their mother instead of taking it as I fed them. Btw, I can tell the difference between baby birds that have fallen out of the nest and baby birds that are orphaned; these birds were orphaned. I think that the sanctuary will foster them to a zebra finch mother. Zebra finches seem quick to take up orphans. But they said that the chicks have a very high chance of survival.

Anna's Collection of Pink and Squirming things

PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK, PINK.


Two of the three orphaned House Finches

     I got back from BYS yesterday and about ten minutes later my friend called and said, "Hey Anna, You like birds right? I found some little ones in Sister Fractman's lawn." They were pink. I have three pinky birds sleeping in a box next to me as I type this. And they are absolutely tiny! I thought they were hummingbirds for a minute. Now I think they're goldfinches. Those are pretty small and we have a few around here. I'm trying to find them a wildlife rehabber so that I won't kill them accidentally. But I really want to keep them now.




Breakfast's pregnant belly

     Breakfast the Mouse is definately pregnant, she's getting that "swallowed a golf ball" look. She'll probably deliver more pink and squirming things into my room before the month is up.


Yes it's upside down and
you can deal with it.

     While were speaking of mice, my dad and my brother found a wild mouse(?) under our truck topper that was lying in the lawn. When I got home my brother was gone and Dad said that it was in the plastic dog treat container in my room.
     Guess what? It wasn't.
     I spent about ten minutes basically tearing my room apart until I found my brother's note that said it was in the aquiarium above my typewriter. Now it's in the freezer; it should make two or three kestrel meals.
    

Mice, Astroturf, and the Test

I got mice.

Breakfast

Dinner

Lunch

I'm pretty sure that Breakfast and Lunch are pregnant. Dinner is a male. I think Lunch might be sick or something; she's had a stuffy nose for a couple of days now.

I got new astroturf. Very high quality stuff. It's much better than by old astroturf; I probably could have killed a kestrel with that stuff. The new turf is about 3/4 of an inch thick, very soft, and made with two different types of blades. There's the straight long ones and the short curly ones that make it really soft. It's made to cover lazy people's lawns so that they don't have to water it.

Oh, I almost forgot! I passed my test! I got a crap score but it was a crap score that was over 80%!

Four Down, Two to Go

 I widened my platform perch.



Before

After

I still can't figure out how to attatch the astroturf. The turf that I got is such poor quality that everything that I've tried thus far has ruined it. I'm looking for better astroturf online that isn't out of my budget.

I'm hoping my mom will take me to get mice today. Also, Someone in the IFA (I won't mention their name for security reasons) found a farm in Middleton that raises pheasants and they have a major overpopulation this year so they're culling the excess chick and selling them for super cheep. I'll get 100-150 of those for $20-$30, breed mice, catch a house sparrow every now and then, and my kestrel will catch some game for itself too.

Hello Again

     Sorry about the gap between posts. I was gone for a week to McCall.

     I got my leashes right before I left, literally. I got my leashes and an hour later I was on the road.
     P.S. "premium hawkers chocolate" tastes nasty.

     Monica came over to check my equipment today.
DONE:

• stabilize the screen perch with some string connecting the top to the feet
• attatch a loop of rope to the center of the screen perch for tying the leash
• make some minor modifications to the giant hood

TO DO:

• extend the sides of my platform perch
• figure out how to secure the astroturf to the platform perch in a way that is secure (especially around the edges) and removable
• get some breeder mice

     My dad still thinks that I should wait until I have a kestrel to get mice, but if I want a good supply (that I don't have to pay and unaffordable price for) then I have to get them now.

Leashes

I finally spoke with someone of authority at Western Sporting. They found my order through the website database but there was an energy glitch so the website database didn't send the order to the product database. Since I ordered the leashes FIVE FREAKIN' WEEKS AGO they said that they would only charge me for one leash (I ordered two) and rush the order and send me some of their  "Premium Hawkers' Chocolate" with the order for free. I'm not sure what that is, but I'm pretty sure it's chocolate so I'm happy.
Unfortunately, I'll be camping next week so I won't get the package until the next week unless rushed shipping means overnight. That would be fantastic.

A New Aviary

     I caught my fifth house sparrow by way of funnel trap a couple of days ago. My family was waiting for me so that we could continue our nighttime rituals so I just put it in the aviary. After we finished our prayers, I took it out of the aviary and into the garage for euthanization. But it was in the wrong hand and I was wearing gloves so of course I had to switch hands.

     Guess what happened?

     I spent the next hour and a half chasing a house sparrow around the garage. Finally, around 11:00pm I set my trap in the garage and went to bed. I caught it today with the trap.

On a slightly related note:

     I have been a little worried about actually keeping up with a kestrel's food needs. I haven't been catching very many birds and, apparently, the bird won't be able to entirely provide for itself. I think I'll get feeder mice. $8 for a pair and they'll reproduce like crazy. I think that between that, the sparrows from the trap, and what the kestrel should catch I will be able to keep up with its diet.

A Little Update on Everything

I finally got word that my leashes shipped. Appearently, the one with this information is a new worker and forgot to send me my email (which I still don't have). I'm expecting the package to come within the next two business days. Otherwise, my mom wants to call and yell at them. She doesn't seem to know that once it's shipped, yelling at them doesn't do anything. They can't make it ship faster, they've already handed it over to the USPS.

I got a $15 pair of leather gloves to be my falconry glove. I just need to put an eylet or two in the cuff and it will be perfect.

I caught two more house sparrows. I put them in the aviary instead of the freezer. Last night one of them wriggled they way throught the top, then got caught in the net and choked to death trying to get back in. Now I have 3 birds in the freezer and one in the aviary. Hopefully I will catch more.

I remodeled my room to make it more falcon-friendly. Now there's a lot more space by the window and in the corner to the right of the window. That way, I can move the kestrel near and away from the window.

You have been updated.

My Review of Western Sporting Goods

I am very upset with Western sporting right now.
I ordered two books from them a while ago which came throught fine, but my last TWO ORDERS have not processed.
I have been waiting for my leashes for five weeks now. They were supposed to be here 8 days from ordering. I have called once a week for the last three weeks and they have yet to do anything about it but take my email and put me one the urgent list (which does nothing).
I was thinking about this a bit. Suppose I was not an apprentice collecting my beginner's equipment but a falconer whose leashes were starting to wear out. Suppose I had called plenty in advance to be sure that I would have them before my worn leashes were useless. It is not plenty in advance anymore and I would probably have lost my bird!
If they can fix it today, I will take the order and leave their customer pool. If they can't fix it today, I will cancel the order and leave their customer pool.
Your time is ticking Western Sporting. You have about three hours to take my 27 dollars before I leave.

More Trapping

I made another Funnel trap a while ago and set it up where there are no dogs to eat my birds. I caught three female house sparrows on the third day and, yes, I got to keep these ones. I put them in an aviary that I had all set up for them. They immediately got out. I managed to get two of the three back. I fixed the aviary so they couldn't get out then messaged Monica on facebook. Now they're in the freezer because that's what she told me to do.

A few days later I went to check my trap and it was gone. I wasn't super surprised, I had set it out in the open right next to a busy road. But I was angry. I left a note where it had been and put up a notice on the subdivision's webpage. I found it today. It wasn't in nearly as bad of shape as the other trap when I found it, but it did look like someone had run over it on their bike, which is probably what happened. I fixed it up, but now I need to find out another trapping situation for it. I think that I can set it up across the street from where it was. There it will be hidden by some trees and bushes, but I need some more bird seed. I had my mom buy some when I ran out, but the birds don't seem too keen on it.

They like penuts.

Oh, and my leashes still aren't here. I've called Western Sporting twice now and appearently my case has been marked urgent. It would be really nice if I could just get my leashes though.

Sparrow Trapping

I finally made a sparrow trap that works. It's called a funnel trap in case you're interested. It caught sparrows the day after I set it up.
Then the neighbors' dogs found it and ripped and crushed the cage until the birds were out.
Oh, and my leashes still aren't here.

The trap before it was ruined.

Frustration and Screen Perches

I ordered my leashes around Friday two weeks ago, meaning the 16th. They are supposed to arrive within 2-8 business days. So excluding memorial day and weekends, it has been 8 days and I still don't have them. It's just Wyoming to Idaho! Jumping two stinkin' state borders! If they're not here tomorrow, I'm going to call Western Sporting.

On another note... I finished my screen perch.

Waiting

Just waiting for my leashes to come in the mail.
I didn't think it would take this long for a package to get from Wyoming to Idaho.
They're not that far apart.

MAJOR update

     So....
     How's the last year treated ya?
     Sorry about the massive gap between posts there. My computer randomly became incompatible with blogspot.

Long Before April 7:

     My dad said that I couldn't get a falcon...
     I fell into depression...

April 7:

     I'm not sure that I've told you about the falconer that lives on Marteeson. I have seen them out manning their Harris', but I couldn't ever talk to them about falconry because their front yard was fenced off and their front door was removed. But I know there's a falconer that lives there.

     I met them today. I was biking to the library and passed their house just as they pulled in. She started walking to the back gate and I stepped in the driveway and called, "excuse me?"
Her reaction to "I'm Anna and I'm interested in falconry," surprised me. I expected an interrogation to figure out whether I was really up for falconry. Instead she invited me in. Her name is Kelly. She has a harris' hawk named Delta and a Finnish goshawk named Aussie. Then she gave me a list of contacts, and a list of books to collect, and a list of things to learn over the summer.
     Then she let me hold her harris hawk.
     And a hallelujah chorus started singing in the back of my head.

It was great.

     I proceeded to bike home and Facebook message every single person on the contact list. I got one reply out of six. Monica (the replier) and I met up that same week where she offered to sponsor me with the help of two or three other people. So fortunately for me, I have the unique option to have three sponsors. I accepted.
     During the rest of the afternoon with Monica, we got things figured out. I'm going to have a kestrel. I'll keep it in my room so my dad and the HOA don't complain about the mews in the backyard. I'll trap in the fall.
     That gave me roughly six months to get everything ready... and pass my test.


Since then:

Unfinished Mews

• I've built my mews
• I've bought the two falconry books my sponsor recommended (Falconry Equpments by Kimsey and Hodge, American Kestrels in Modern Falconry by Matthew Mullenix)
• I've built two sparrow traps
• I've started working on my giant hood
• I've ordered my leashes from Western Sporting
• I've gotten my hunting licence
• I've decided that this summer is going to be the longest summer of my life

Unfinished Giant Hood

The Books my Sponsor Recommended

Hunting Licence and Hat