Happy Hatchday, Kaya! Alles Gute zum Schlüpftag!
our current favorite photo of Kaya |
What
present would I like to give her? A knitted sweater vest to keep her warm in her
mews during this cold snap! If I’m cold, she’s cold. Isn’t that how it works?
AI image created by stability.ai |
What she’s actually getting is a nice big quail (Wachtel) for her hatchday lunch.
We’ve had a
fun and exciting second year with her even though I posted precious little
about it. We ended her season of 63 hawking days with 52 crows (Krähen),
3 magpies (Elstern), 2 pigeons (Tauben), 1 duck (Stockente)
and, quite impressively, two Egyptian geese (Nilgänse)!
Our
successes together are no doubt notable for a young bird, but if I average
her hawking days with 5 flights each, that’s about 315 flights and a total of
60 kills. I only mention that to illustrate that her quarry still has the
better odds.
in a tree in our training ground between flights |
She should be molting now, but several things have stood in the way of a good start. Right before the long Easter weekend, I noticed some wounds on the bottoms of several of her toes, which we had looked at by a veterinarian who specializes in birds and reptiles in Karlsruhe. The first available appointment was 12 days later, and as of then we started 3 different medications. Medications are not good for the molt, so we didn’t expect anything during the 6 days she was on them. The wounds are nearly healed and she's off the meds, but now it’s too cold! This cold spell is supposed to last another week, so here’s hoping for a good Mauser re-start next weekend!
Kaya
brightens our every day and she is so much fun during the non-hunting season!
This is her cute & curious pose. |
holding her emotional support pine cone while staring sceptically at her new carpet |
One of her mew perches had lost all its bark, so M replaced it with a nice new branch ten days ago, which she has found greatly upsetting. It’s a lovely perch with a slight bend in it, so if she ever tries it out she’ll see she can sit even higher than before while she watches the neighbors come and go. Since she likes change about as much as we do, she still won't go near it.
biiiiiiiggggg stretch! |
*She came from a breeder and has never been in the wild, but a raptor is never tame or domesticated. She will always remain a wild animal, and we, her falconers, must never forget that.
The Verband Deutscher Falkner stand at the Forst Live Messe (trade show) in Offenburg |
We're looking forward to another year with our girl and all the adventures it brings!
Until next time...
Falknersheil!!
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