A New Start

I had been trapping for a month off and on and only caught one bird a couple of weeks ago. It was a haggard tiercel kestrel so I let him go. Yesterday I took my daughter to work and as usual I brought a mouse along for the ride. My brother-in-law was with me too. He was with me when I trapped Hazel. It turns out he's something of a good luck charm. We drove for about 20 minutes only seeing 2 birds, neither in a position where we could get a trap under them. Then my bro-in-law spotted this guy. He was on a pole about 50 yards from the road and we set the trap down in an area of bare dirt. He flew down immediately after we drove off and went straight to the trap and landed on the ground. None of this fluttering fly by or perch nearby business. He walked around the trap, kicked the tires, stood and looked at the thing for a bit, and then got up on top. He was on and off it several times but was very calm about it so didn't get snagged. I was going nuts hoping he'd get his foot in a loop soon. Finally he got his foot stuck in one loop (only one!). We got lucky!

He weighed 105g this morning after casting so he's a bit smaller than my other birds but I'm optimistic about him. I think he"ll do fine. You see, earlier in the day I was in that same area and saw a male kestrel trying to catch a sparrow and was also chasing starlings and doves. So it might be the same bird.

After getting him home, jessed, and dusted for parasites I began to try and get him to sit on the glove. He caught on (no pun intended) almost immediately and within five minutes he was returning to the glove after a bate. Wow! Hazel took two hours to just stand on the glove and Baron was at least 30 minutes. Already I can touch his wings and feet without him flying off.