Hatched

Today i was checking on the pigeons before Steve and i took Zoie out. We have two very small chicks. I have one mated pair but don't think i have any others which is a bit of a disappointment so will have to prune a few down. I started making my hutch pigeon loft. it will be 3 feet by 6 feet and then 4 feet tall. I have placed it on legs so will be about 3 feet off the ground. I want to get this finished by next weekend so i can start free lofting Zoie in the mews.

Steve and I headed out to the creek, first time Steve's been there but this is my 3rd trip. Although we didn't manage to take any game we did have 5 very good slips . 3 of which we never saw the squirrel but was a very long flight and we eventually found Zoie on the ground walking around. 2 of the flights we did see and the chess match was on two of which ended in a stalemate with the squirrel either hiding in a nest or in a hole up a tree. Zoie started to rip apart the nest but after a while ( 3 minutes of us banging on the tree) she lost interest and moved onto the next chase. This flight resulted in the squirrel going to ground and leaping 40 feet to the ground with Zoie in hot pursuit.

We did have two more flights, one of which was exceedingly long and took her out of the wood along the lake. We are assuming this one might have been a rabbit as we did spot some rabbit sign.

After 3 hours of hunting Zoie decided it was time to call it a day so we headed home.

Steve was delighted by the hunt and seems to think Zoie and i are making a good team, she is following well and on the long flights i am somehow managing to keep up. I have also decided to give the T-Perch a rest for the moment, Zoie wont fly to it and for squirrel hawking its more of a hindrance than a help, what i did get was a tire check stick that long distance lorry (Semi ) drivers use. This one has a metal collar on the end which proved great for banging tree's and bushes. The catapult/Sling shot worked out well again today. I seem to be withing 6-8 inches of the target. I do want to get some heavier ball bearings as these ones seem a bit light