Happy 3rd Gotcha Day, Kaya!

Three years ago today we drove to Hessen and picked up our girl - Kaya, our Harris's hawk - from her breeder. Since then our daily lives have largely revolved around her, hawking, and falconry. And we're loving every minute!

All photos are from Sandra Bäder of Pfotodog, unless otherwise captioned.

We've completed three successful crow-hawking seasons with Kaya, making a lifetime total of 164 Beutestücke (successful kills) so far and an uncountable number of misses.

During the hawking season (August 1 to February 15) I or we are out with her every 2-4 days depending on weather, and every outing is an adventure. Hawking can be dangerous and we've had a few close calls, including the worst which ended with me standing in a road trying to stop traffic while she flew back to me. From one of the photos above you can see how low to the ground she flies - using the ground effect to conserve energy. But roads are not avoidable and so we have to consider a whole lot of factors in the few seconds between spotting a crow and releasing her.

Hawk acrobatics: catching a tidbit in mid-air during training

We are often asking if we would want to fly a different bird at some point, and our answer is no. We absolutely adore her and hope she will live healthily and injury-free for the 20 years or so a Harris's hawk can live with a falconer, and by then we'll be in our 70s. We might be ready to hang up our leather gloves by then, although to be honest I cannot imagine not hawking when autumn rolls around.

I'll cut off my words here and finish with more photos from Sandra.

Here's to another safe and successful season!

Until next time - and I'll try to write again before her next Gotcha Day! LOL

Falknersheil!