2007-02-02

It has been bitterly cold the past several days. We went from a fairly warm winter, to an artic blast. The lows have been near –20, and highs barely above 0 (Farenheight). It really makes for miserable loft maintenance tasks.

Most of you that will be sending birds the first week should have youngsters hatched and almost ready to band. Be sure to send the entry fee money with the birds. In our last convention meeting it was decided that birds received without entry fees would only be allowed a five-day grace period before being immediately disqualified. A bit harsh I think, but that was what was decided on.

I would say the birds could be shipped on Tuesday, February 27th, as it will take ~2 days to get here anyway. Possibly 2/28 would be OK too. If you wait until Thursday, March 1^st, and the birds miss a flight, it may be Monday before they get out of the box. That would be a long time for a young bird to be without food/water.

My young bird team is progressing well. I have them in the aviary all day, starting in the settling trap. When they have seen enough, they have to go through the actual trap to get into the main aviary. Then, if they desire, they can go through the bobs back out to the settling trap and enjoy the full sun. They can go round and round, each time going through the main trap entrance that they will use during all of the young bird races.

I have already given them a couple of training tosses, from about 20 feet from the loft. I leave them sit in the basket most of the day, staring at the trap and the loft. When I release them after several hours, they fly a bit towards the loft and mostly go right in the trap. Some fly a few tight helicopter routes around the loft, but if so, so much the better. I hope to have them actually loft flying pretty soon. It’s a bit hard so far, as it is dark when I get home or shortly thereafter.

After daylight savings time commences, it will be a bit lighter, probably past 7:30. The extra time will suite me well for evening loft flying.

So far I have not seen many hawks to speak of. Normally I see a few around, but none to date. They must have all went south or found a better place to feed. I will be watching very close, and will react accordingly if they pick up bad habits.

My old bird team was out flying a few times. They are a bit fat, but this cold weather burns off a lot of fat. I will be flying a larger team this year, and will have a better selection to choose from during basketing night. I hope to have them in shape and ready to train with my early young bird team.