Another crummy Houston morning, but it was enjoyable hanging out with my hawk. We put up only one rabbit, and she made a rush at some herons down in the ditch. A great blue and a common egret. Fortunately she flew over them and landed on the bank as they noisily flew off.
Another irritation is the destruction of yet another hunting field, the last picture below. This is the exact spot where we took our only rabbit this season, just last week. That's to the right in the picture. To the left and paralleling the road ahead is a strip and a ditch, now all scraped. It was productive for a couple of seasons. My hawks took countless rabbits there.
The upside is my relationship with Farrah. As unfriendly as she is towards other people, and as often skittish she is, Farrah is really a fine companion hawk. She is always engaged in the activity at hand, and enjoys hanging out afterwards. Today wasn't much of a hunt, but she was pleasant to be with. It is no doubt a Harris's hawk thing and largely responsible for their popularity. Of course they are fine game hawks too, with Farrah's rivaling some of the best rabbit hawks that I've encountered. A few years ago, Paul Pennell's Harris, Storm, got me looking for a female Harris. Storm, a Jimmy Tompkins bird, is about the nicest hawk I have ever encountered. Farrah's not too nice to anyone else, but I wouldn't trade her.
Next season I think I will wait until October to begin hunting. Lows this September were a few degrees above historical. There is a big difference between 69 and 72 when stomping around in the brush. Every season seems warmer, even at dawn, and this fall, Farrah was still molting. There's too much cover and the game, if here, is not concentrated. We had more rain this year, good for my foundations at least. It certainly beats a drought. Maybe the game is out there, just hidden in the vegetation.
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