21 November 2018
Today is the first rainy day since trap day with Alder. She and I still went for a walk in the morning. She didn’t seem too bothered but roused immediately when back on her perch inside.
Yesterday we heard from the vet that Alder’s fecal exam came back positive for Capillaria sp., a parasitic threadworm that attacks the intestines. She will need to have two injections of ivermectin, administered two weeks apart. We’ll have to head back to the vet’s office next week for her first treatment. We are waiting to see if she will start eating.
This afternoon she finally jumped onto my glove for a tidbit (mouse bits), then again for another (chicken liver). That was all the jumping she was willing to do today, but I think she understands having to come to the glove to eat. She is down to 1055 grams.
22 November 2018
Happy Thanksgiving! And a thankful day, indeed. We started off the morning with short hops for tidbits and different angles and heights. Alder made 20 jumps for 20 grams of tidbits! She did so well. We only had a morning session due to family holiday gathering. She was at 1053 grams today, which is likely due to being overfed yesterday (I really wanted her to just jump!).
23 November 2018
Alder was at 1041 g today. She showed very little hesitation to jump even the full length of the short leash this morning. We did jumps for about 15 g of tidbits, until she started to lose interest. We tried the long leash, and she jumped 5 feet. She did hesitate, not seeming to like that particular leash and swivel setup. It was heavy and bright orange, which I think made her nervous.
24 November 2018
Kris came over again this morning so she could watch Alder jump, and was really happy with her progress. Alder even jumped to Kris a few times! Alder struggled a bit to land a really long tall jump, but on the second try she nailed it with no issues.
In the afternoon, I took Alder outside with a bow perch and she did more jumps in a new environment. Our next goal is to get used to all of the distractions and temptations of outside, and remain focused on food rewards. We will start taking tidbits on our walks and incorporating jumps and short flights.
Before putting her to bed for the evening, I was feeling really confident and Alder was in a groove so I took her into her mew and placed her on the bow perch on the floor. I locked the doors, and then walked to the far corner. I put my glove up with the last tidbit for the day, whistled, and Alder had her first indoor “free flight” to my glove. She’s such a champ. She has my heart clutched in her sharp little talons.
Am I correct in that Alder sometimes preens while on her perch? With respect to broken feathers, the do not pose a problem with the ability of a hawk to be successful in hunting.
You might speak to Kris about the idea of entering Alder on a thawed rabbit any time now well before she is flown free. That way, she will know what a rabbit is when you fly her free for the first time and hunt her at the same time. I have done that with all of my Red-tails and those of my apprentices. I am pretty certain we did that with Kris’ female RT Harley.
One of Mike Syring’s apprentices will be down tomorrow and after some trial on a creance at Porter Park, will be entering the hawk on a baggy rabbit for the hawk’s introduction to a rabbit for the first time.
Richard FH
She has started preening more recently, in the last week. I think she preens more when she is in her crate in private, I can hear her. I’m not too concerned with the breaks, they aren’t too severe. She has one that is bent that Kris is going to help me fix next week.
Once we get to creance flying we can start thinking about lures and entering on game. Good luck tomorrow.