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

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.