Monday 26 March 2012

Stevie "hawking"

This morning I went "hawking" with my friend Nathan and his new bird "Stevie"
Dave my neighbour came along too!
Nathan called me up the other night to ask if he could hunt his new bird on my property. 
The answer was an immediate yes.
A couple of years ago I taught Nathan how to hunt. 
Nathan has long been interested in hunting with a bird and after successfully completing an apprenticeship in falconry he now has his own bird.
Stevie is Nathan's first bird.... a young female Harris Hawk


This morning we tried to get Stevie to kill prey from the wild on her own. 
So far she has just been hand fed.
Out walking in the bush this morning we encountered grouse, turkeys, deer and one very sluggish snake.
Stevie had a nice outing but so far she is just curious about what she sees in the forest. 
I think Nathan is eager for her to start hunting and will take her out again soon.


As we walked through the woods this morning Nathan's bird flew overhead.
She had a bell attached to her foot and as she flew we could hear the bell ring through the trees above.
I wonder what Stevie saw soaring in the canopy?

-Martin

4 comments:

Astrid said...

So beautiful. Such an amazing bird!

a blog about the little things said...

Oh my goodness, that is so amazing! I'd love to witness Stevie in action. I have such a deep respect for birds of prey.

Lindsay Andrews said...

How cool is that ! This young man has taken the term "Traditional" to a whole new level. I am sure the Grouse will be worried around your place now !!!! .....Lin.

Aidyl Ewoh said...

Oh neat! Thanks for the cool blog post. Stevie seems like she would be a challenging and exciting bird to have.
~Aidyl
www.aidylewoh.blogspot.com