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

I'm Mad

I just found out that I do have to be 14 to apprentice.
5 months till my birthday.

Time for a Story

I'm gonna tell you about how I got interested in falconry.
   When I was around 6 I heard my brothers talking about falconry. My brother talked about becoming a falconer and getting a peregrine falcon. The thought of owning a falcon so entirely captured me that I have not forgotten since then.
    My brother, Braden, was the kind of person who says things that aren't true if they'll make him sound smarter. My dad call it BS: Braden Says. Point being: he gave me plenty of false information.
     I thought that I had to be 14 to apprentice, so i started studying at 12 thinking that I would spend 2 years memorizing every measurement of every raptor and all their behaviors and I would memorize everything in the falconry packet from the fish and game.
     Then I learned that I could apprentice at 12.
     I dumped previous plans and saved up enough money to buy the California Hawking Club Apprentice Study Guide and Apprenticeship Manual and buy into the Idaho Falconer's Association. About a week before school ended I promised myself that I would have a falcon by the time school started again. Then I learned about trapping seasons and money and apprenticeship and reality, and I promised myself that I would be apprenticing by the time school started again.
     And I'm almost there.

From My Backyard

I would like to tell you what I saw from my backyard a few minutes ago.



Here, have a sloppy diagram.

So, I was sitting in my backyard when a red-tailed hawk flew over my head about 15 feet off the ground.
Then it swooped into my neigbors' backyard and got dive-bombed by the nearby resident Kestrels.
     Ahhhh kuna.

Out Camping

     I just got back from my week long camping trip. I saw a red-tailed hawk and should've seen a ferruginous hawk. I was at a rest stop and read a sign that talked about the ferruginous hawk and the high population there. made me mad. But I got a northwest american raptor feild guide, that cost eight dollars and wasn't really worth it if you ask me. My dad got it for me though so I didn't pay anything.

     I think the main reason that he bought it for me is because it had been a fairly crappy camping trip up until then. It was our family reunion. This was the side of my family that we don't really belong in. All of them have lived in the Boise area of idaho their whole life and had grown very close (not to mention that they were all singers and actors and practically rich.) We, on the other hand, had spent most of our time in the tip of idaho and therefore were very disconnected, and not rich or famous. They all stayed in cushy condos, at which there was not enough room for us so we were at a nearby campsite being the "trailer trash." But we stayed a few days after they left and saw the Minnitonka Caves and it was awesome.

     And what does this have to do with falconry??!/!?!?

     I have no idea.

Test?

     It's been 2 days since I got the study guides and I've practically memorized the CHC Apprentice Study Guide and I've read through the CHC Apprenticeship Manual twice. Should I take the test or not? I'm confident in my ability to pass, but the Fish and Game reccomends that you give yourself 6 weeks to study.

     Does anyone else think I'm a freak?

Study Guides 2

Let it be known that on this day (Friday, June 7, 2013) at 12:55 pm my study guides arrived, along with some beautiful blank cards.

My favorite

The books

The whole family