Getting there slowly

not posted for a while and that's not to say i have given up or anything. Steve's birds have been up and down or the weather has been to windy. That's not to say i have not been doing anything. I got given a load of reclaimed timber ( or lumber as the yanks call it ) More than enough to build my weathering area. Steve my sponsor came over on Saturday and he checked out where i was planing to put my mews and weathering area. We finally decided on placing it at the back of the house. great place for morning sun, protected against midday sun and very private.

We also checked out two potential hunting areas in the Platter area. We have allot of public hunting ground. We got out of my van and immediately bumped two squirrels so i guess more than ever i will be squirrel hunting . We also spotted some pretty decent sized rabbit sign so there is potential in that.

I also showed Steve my Giant Hood. I've been working on it for some time and planning it. Steve recommended timber for the hood as this will make it near pitch black inside and be more beneficial to my hawk when i get it. Chloroplast is nice and light but it still lets in light.

I have made the hood out of very very fine plywood, less than 1/8th of an inch thick. I then used 1/2 Inch square dowel as bracing. Screwed and glued all round and then put some outside trim (compressed foam with pine vainer ) along the edges. So far this is very very light and I'm very pleased with it. I'm sanding it down right now so i can coat it with a polyurethane varnish and then air it for fumes. Still studying and reading up for my exam but i will be starting to put my mews and weathering area together soon.

Steve is off on a road trip for a bit and one of his harris hawks has started molting