Joe Atkinson’s Eagle Journal

Widow 5/9/08

May 9, 2008

I went up to the mountain just to give Widow a short flight ..

After calling her to the fist a couple of time she went up and out of sight. For two and a half hours she stayed up over the area so high I was not able to see her. Clouds rolled in and she was, according to my receiver, over the top of the storm. My last signal was coming from the north and very faint which would indicate that she was a long ways away. I drove out in that direction, covering the general area as best I could. If this was to be Widow’s last flight with me I knew her condition was high enough that she would be fine. I did, however, want my $200 transmitter back. As the sunlight faded I drove home with a heavy heart, not wanting to end my relationship with Widow so suddenly.

Next morning..

By 8 am I had already fed the horses and scanned the area with my receiver with no signal. Our ranch is on top of what is called a bench and gives a great view of the valley and mountains. The plan was that after feeding the rest of the birds I was going to start driving around looking for a signal. Cordi and I were talking near my truck when I turned on the receiver again and suddenly got a strong signal. Widow was close. I tracked her into a huge canyon along the Malheur River with steep cliffs on one side and the river on the other. The signal was strong one minute and would fade to almost nothing the next, indicating Widow was moving. I realized that she must be on top of the mountain that overlooks the river. I found a way up and began to climb the very steep hill, all the while looking for snakes. I was about half way up to the top when I heard the rushing sound of a stooping bird and, BAM, Widow was on the lure! She had indeed been on top of the mountain and thankfully she saw me before I had to climb any farther.

Widow 5/4/08

May 4, 2008

Today was a perfect day — bright blue sky with big puffy clouds, warm, 70’, and some wind. However, the wind was doing crazy things, swirling around in all different directions, one moment giving great lift and the next pushing Widow down to the ground. It took Widow a good 45 minutes to figure out the wind gusts; once she did, up she went to a spec. She came over us and I threw out the lure and down she came, getting faster and faster.

Cordi and I started climbing up the mountain in an effort to get on top of the cliff. The hope was that it would be a better camera angle. We made our way back and forth going up the hill and when we got almost to the top I looked for a safe place to climb up the last rocks. I started to go to the left but wanted to check out a path to the right first. Just as I moved to my right a large rattlesnake sounded off at eye level right in front of us. If I had gone to the left as I originally started to do, I would have put my hand right on top of him. Needless to say, we moved back down the cliff and looked for another way up. That was close, very close!

Widow 4/30/08

April 30, 2008

The temperature has gone cold again, 45’ late this afternoon with snow flurries. Cordi and I went up to the mountain where the wind was strong and held the promise of good eagle flying. I unhooded Widow in the back of the truck and she launched from there, catching the wind and was gone over the cliff. We walked along the steep mountainside and made our way down to a bench that is at the bottom of the canyon. When we looked back, Widow was a pin dot in the cloud filled sky. I started dragging the lure along the ground, running down across the bench. Widow came over directly above us, probably

3-4 thousand feet up. Thinking back on the flight, I don’t think she saw the lure at first because she didn’t really react but then suddenly she folded up her wings and came straight down. just a magnificent stoop! Widow went back up at least 6 more times. One flight was particularly nice. I had called her to the lure by dragging it straight at Cordi, who was filming. Widow stooped and came in with feet hanging down, ready to pound the lure. I fed her a chunk of quail, cast her off, and she left the fist going back up into another soar. I stooped her once again, right at the camera so much fun!

As we were running around filming and flying Widow I happened across this very young rattlesnake coiled up in the mouth of a gopher hole. It’s clearly not a western diamond back rattlesnake; I’ll have to look it up. We left him where we found him. Beautiful snake

April 28, 2008

April 28, 2008

The temperature has warmed up a lot today, 83. I went to the mountain with hopes of strong rising air. The wind was spotty, at times very strong and other times dead calm. Widow was dying to get out of the truck. I unhooded her on the perch in the back of the truck and she launched from there. As I walked along the side of the mountain Widow was riding the air across the gorge. I covered the entire bottom of the gorge looking for signs of animal life, saw only deer tracks. I worked my way back up the mountain and sat down with the idea that I would wait Widow out. After about 15 minutes she flew out and caught a thermal and went up to about 1500 feet. I threw out the lure and drug it along the ground Widow stooped in wonderfully and hammered the lure. After a transfer she left the ground and to my surprise caught another thermal and went back up, maybe higher, hard to tell. Once again I pulled out the lure and she came down with tons of speed. Maybe she is starting to put things together.

Widow 4/26/08

April 26, 2008

I went over to Kuna, which is in Idaho, and flew out in the area where JH caught his first Oregon/Idaho jack rabbit, hoping for some slips. The whistle pigs are out in force. I did not know what a whistle pig was either until we moved up here. They look like miniature prairie dogs that are not much bigger than a roll of quarters but are actually a ground squirrel and they give an alarm whistle, hence the name. They are very fast and run with reckless abandon from one hole to another. It’s a funny, very faint whistle they have and as you walk along you constantly hear this far off sounding whistle. At first I kept stopping, thinking what is that sound. Each time I would stop, the sound would stop. Finally I saw one and solved the big mystery. Once you know what to look for, they are everywhere. Like I said, they run out of control, bouncing off things in their hysteria to get to the safety of their hole. Enough about the pigs

The plan was to walk the sage, driving the jacks down and out into the more flyable spots just like I had done with JH. After walking for a good while Widow flew up and landed on a small pile of rocks that nicely overlooked the area I was hunting. I concentrated my flushing in the areas with sage growing in clumps and open grass all around and it paid off. With Widow in a good spot I worked the sage and out flushed a jack, running across Widow’s line of sight, heading for cover. Widow was up and flying in a flash, bombing down the hill, coming in low and fast. The jack started to zig zag left and right, trying to shake off the B-52 that was coming in fast. The jack made a super move, darting to the left and bouncing off a sage bush, just as Widow came in with a cloud of dust. I thought she had it but, nope, the clever rascal got away. I spent the next few minutes watching a pair of prairie falcons mount up to 300-400 hundred feet and then take turns stooping in on the whistle pig colony that was out in the open grass. They would wing over, stoop straight down to the ground, level out at ground level and, in full after burn, snag a pig..that was cool to see.

Widow passage female golden eagle

April 12, 2008

Female passage golden eagle (Widow)

Wt. 9lbs 10 oz.

I started to reduce Widow’s weight about two weeks ago. She is, after all, a trained eagle that has caught 12 plus jacks, so, for her, it is just a matter of conditioning. She really should have been released last year but with our move up to Oregon and not knowing much about the land around here I thought I should wait until I could find a good place to release her.

With Cordi and JJ, our oldest daughter, along we took Widow over to the edge of one of the bluffs on the ranch. It is a reasonably steep hill that overlooks the valley below which is, for the most part, covered in sage brush. I was hoping for more wind to get Widow in the air more but otherwise all went well for the first day. She flew around off the hill and never went too far off. At one point we were joined by a sub-adult bald eagle and just as fast as it came the bald eagle was gone.

There are some unbelievable places to fly eagles in the surrounding areas and the wind does blow so Widow will have to fly and soar.

Widow April 14, 08

April 14, 2008

The wind was at 6-8mph but coming from the NE which ended any chance of slope soaring. We did, however, get some valuable tree work in. I placed food in the smallish trees on the side of the hill and Widow flew up and landed. I continued this for a good hour and she got more comfortable going to the trees. One or two more days of this and we are going to take her up on a mountain with lots of jacks and lots of wind!

 

4/15/07

JH 8.6 lbs

MM 7.0 lbs

 

Both birds were hungry. Yesterday was to have been their next hunting day but it rained all day, so today is the day. The rain had stopped but the wind was howling 18-25 mph. Today was my last day hunting down in Lathrop after 15 plus years and countless flights and jacks. So, despite the wind, I loaded up the boys and drove down to the fields.

 

JH:

I went to the big hay field and could hardly keep the door to the truck opened. JH found it impossible to sit on the glove. I flushed a jack and JH was off but had no chance in the wind. He pulled up after a short flight. I thought that I would stand a better chance in the fields that are surrounded by the huge warehouses acting as wind blockers.

 

By going up close, in the corners, the wind was not near as strong. I was walking alongside of the field, working my way to the area that would have less wind, when JH launched off and went hauling downwind on something. He pitched up, made two or three passes over an area, and then landed. JH then jumped back into the air, gained height, did a wingover, and slammed the ground, just missing a rabbit. He came back to the fist and we continued walking. Way out in the field something flushed and JH was off again. It was a big black and white dog! JH was cranking, went in fast and hit the dog, flipping it up in the air, head over heels. Fortunately, JH pitched up and came back to me and did not go back in and bind to the dog. The poor dog was quite shook up and went howling out of the field with its tail firmly tucked between its legs. I continued to work my way over to a dead area but JH was off again. Using the wind, he closed on a jack running 100 plus yards downwind in seconds. He went in, tried to hook the jack, but it was just able to scoot away. JH pitched up in the wind and was back in the chase. The jack headed straight for the cyclone fence with JH closing. JH hit the fence and was bounced back, gulp! But he was okay and got back in the air heading downwind of me over the huge, and I mean huge, water treatment ponds. I could see him trying to work his way back to me but, with the extremely strong wind and the attacking red tails, JH could not manage to get back.

 

I had a long hike back to my truck and after finally reaching it I went tearing over there, circling the ponds, looking for my eagle. I should point out that the ponds are fenced off with eight foot cyclone with rows of barbed wire on the top, made not to be climbed. These ponds are football field size and 100 feet deep, lined with a heavy black liner to hold waste water. The sides, however, are not steep. They can be walked down, as I later found out. So I drove around to the back side and saw JH sitting on the top of the wall of a pond. I called him and he started to fly in my direction, but turned back into the wind and was forced down on the side of the lined pond bank. JH then started to slide down the slippery black liner all the way into the water. Of course, he was trying his hardest to fight the sliding and hold his position, but to no avail. He was, as I could see, very tired and was standing in water at the bottom of the pond! There was no place that I could climb over this fence, although I did find one spot that I could have possibly gotten over but to return with an eagle on my arm would not have worked.

 

I returned to my truck and went hauling all the way around the plant hoping that the truck I saw pull in was still there and would, by some chance, let me on the grounds. If not, my last choice would be to cut the fence and go in. if I lost Jackhammer it would not be because he drowned in a waste water treatment pond! I slid up to the gate, pressed the buzzer, and said “My eagle is stuck in one of your ponds. I need to get in there fast!” Next thing I knew the gate was opening….yes!! I went tearing up the gravel road heading for the pond that JH was in. These things are huge. The first pond I passed was almost full of waste water which was some kind of aqua, greenish blue color and stunk. Thankfully, the pond that JH was in only had a few feet of water in it that was clearly rain water, it even had some ducks in it. There was nothing in the aqua green water. So now I was looking at a huge plastic lined pond that looked as though, if I went down the side to get JH who was now too wet to fly, I would not be able to climb back out. But I noticed steps glued on the side of the pond liner. A quick look over my shoulder to see if anyone was coming, and down I went, slowly and with caution.  First of all, I didn’t know if I was supposed to be walking on this, and secondly, what would I find at the bottom, soft mud that would not support my weight?

 

JH was up against the bank looking spent but happy to see me. He was too wet to fly but was able to jump up on my fist. I tip-toed back along the edge of the water and got back to the steps. Up I went, hoping to get out of the pond before anybody saw me, which I did, and got JH back in the truck. I stopped in at the main office, let them know that I got my eagle, and thanked them for letting me hunt my birds down here over the years. I returned the keys to the alfalfa fields and turned towards home. This was a close call for JH and as the fields that I have flown, fall one by one, close calls will be more and more the norm. My time down here has ended; time to move on…..

 

I did not fly MM.

MM and JH 4/12/07

4/12/07

JH 8.6 lbs.

MM 7.6 lbs.

As my time flying in Lathrop winds down I want to make the most of it. Despite the fact that it is such an ugly place to fly a bird, it has, over the years, given me countless good times with thousands of slips. Today would be a real test, the wind was blowing 20 plus mph and it seemed that in each field I went to, someone was doing something. Construction is everywhere and the lush green fields that the jacks had lived in are disappearing almost daily. The time has come to move on.

JH:

I hunted the large hay field and did not see that many jacks. The wind was causing trouble, but JH was having a good time playing in it, sometimes going high up overhead looking for slips. The jacks were running down the train tracks with JH hot on their butts, it was fun to see. I went over to the field from hell hoping for more slips, but the wind seemed to gain in strength and it got to the point where I figured I might turn back and call it a day. But I had walked out into the hot zone and figured I’d give it a try. I frankly did not think that even JH could fly down a jack in this strong of a wind. But when a jack flushed from off of my left, directly into the wind, JH exploded off the fist with attitude and flew the jack down like there was not even a breeze. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. Unreal!!

MM:

MM gave it the old college try but was overmatched on this day by the wind. He did have one good slip where he closed on a jack but just did not have the gas to finish the flight. I fed him up and called it a day.

MM and JH 4/1/07

4/1/07

JH 8.5lbs

MM 7.6lbs

 

JH:

I have been looking at a field to the east, on the other side of the big alfalfa hay field, but the last few weeks there seemed to be something going on near the field. Today, however, it was quiet so I turned left into it, going to the end. There was a fence there, barely standing, which hardly slowed me down as I walked into the field. Most fields here, you could say, are going to be lost and covered up within the next months, but this field is down to just hours. Earth scarring equipment have already started their work and soon it will be asphalt and concrete. The field is fairly long but not wide, and I had no doubt that there would be jacks in there. I was correct. No sooner had I moved out than a jack was up and running, JH hot on its tail. The jack ran directly for the only thing out there that could get in the way, a flat bed trailer. The next four jacks all used this trailer for escape. JH had flown over and landed on a ten foot pole, something that used to be part of a gate or something and, in my moving around to get him off the pole, I flushed a cotton tail that JH promptly caught. As happens sometimes, when JH stepped on the fist, the cotton tail ran off. His talons had gone completely around the rabbit, doing little damage.

I went to the middle hay field where JH caught two more jacks from nice slips and I fed him up.

Jackhammer

 

MM:

I started out in the fiddle neck field and had some good slips; the best one MM was looking off the other way. The others he flew nicely but the Swainsons hawks kept hammering him each time he flew…..down they’d come, clipping MM and, poof, feathers would fly. Man, they are a nuisance…….I had a female eagle years ago that flew at 14 lbs and she was an expert at flipping over at the last second and jerking the, in her case, red tail hawk, out of the air. She’d come in handy right about now. Anyway, after working the field completely, I went over to the goat field and it was clear that dogs had been in there because not one jack was to be seen. I worked the field anyway and was walking crosswind, from left to right, when a jack flushed 60 yards out and headed downwind. MM got a great launch and, using the wind, built speed quickly. While closing he was going as fast as he ever had. MM went in low and fast, dust flying everywhere, but he missed. The very next slip a jack flushed and went crosswind but angling slightly upwind as well. MM launched and was over the jack quickly, matching each switch back the jack made, and hooked it!! Number 4….nice flight.

MM on # 4