2013 Sharpshin

[jeffandheidi]

I'll do my best to keep up with this thread in hopes that those with helpful ideas will share them, and everyone else (including me) can learn something new. I met up with a group of falconers from all over the US last weekend and we set out to check the shin nests. Two of the nests we checked had already hatched, but been destroyed by a predator. Both nests had down and blood in them. Fortunately the rest of the day was much better. A bit of eggshell and a molted feather near a butcher block was a good sign.



The car ride home was long and packed and we probably smelled pretty bad, but we had entertainment.


Mine is the one at the very top of the group photo, the others ending up in Missouri, Colorado and California. This last pic is his tail as of the this morning. I'm guessing around 13 days old based on the growth. So far all he really does is preen, eat several small meals, sleep a couple hours, and repeat. He has been trying to stand up but isn't strong enough yet. He has been coming with to the high school summer school class I teach and doesn't seem to notice the noise or chaos.

[wesleyc6]

Hey Jeff, congrats on the new bird. Sorry we didn't really meet while we were there. How is your bird's behavior? Your bird looks a day or two older than mine.

[jeffandheidi]

It was pretty hectic that morning. So far his attitude is great.
He stays on his nest box all the time and I try to mess with his feet a lot. I'm still twig feeding but this evening he picked up a few bites on his own.

[jeffandheidi]

I haven't taken him out if the nest box or tried to weigh him yet, but his growth is obvious. He has been eating the most in the morning, then sleeps for about an hour. The rest if the day eats several tiny meals of only a few grams each (starling), preens, and sleeps a lot.

His feathers are growing very fast!

[wesleyc6]

Man that feather growth is explosive!

[jeffandheidi]

He is able to stand but only for a few seconds. I'm trying to expose him to everything now so he has been on several car rides in his box held above the dashboard. Last night my daughter fed him while I cut the grass, today I'll feed him while she vacuums around us. Maybe it's overkill but it can't hurt.

[jeffandheidi]

Every day Iam amazed how fast this bird is growing. When he is awake he preens constantly an has been standing and flapping a lot. I think it's only a day or two before he starts leaving the box. We are done with twig feeding. He has food with him all day and feeds himself a few bites at a time, averaging about two starlings a day so far. Two more pics from this morning. About 15 days old.

[BestBeagler]

Yours must be a couple days older than mine. Look at that feather growth!

[jeffandheidi]

Not much new to report today, more rides in the car and lots of different people touching and carrying him in the box. This afternoon my wife was playing with his feet when he scooted over and fell asleep on her fingers. She thought it was pretty cool.
Jesses will go on tomorrow morning. 16 days old.

[wesleyc6]

Did your bird come out of the little fish basket?

[jeffandheidi]

Not from the woven basket, if I remember right he came from the plastic rectangle. I was looking for a male first and considered age second since they all looked so close.

[Leather]

Jeff,
Hey man congrats, I was glad to hear you guys scored.
Looking good and growing like a weed I see – cute little fella
See ya
Eric

[jeffandheidi]

Thanks Eric! He is pretty cool, and we are still in the easy boxhawk stage before he gets mobile. I'm looking forward to backyard baggies and getting into the field! We will do some field hawkin for sure! Talk to you soon.

[jeffandheidi]

17 days old. He stands a lot more and had been hopping out of the box to sit on the nearest persons lap instead. During car rides he has been standing a flapping for about the first five minutes before getting tired and sitting down. I'll probably start tethering him in a few days. This morning I switched his plastic food dish to the lure, this afternoon he walked over to it, took a tidbit, footed it the lure then fell back on his rump. Another picture, note the deck feathers!


Fell asleep preening after breakfast.

[HERMANN]

Hey all, mark here those of you who went with me to take a sharpy congrats on the good luck! I know joe feels the same.(we apologize for jumping the gun on the first pick day thanks for understanding)
we appreciate all the patience and respect that everyone showed during the big day. We are very pleased that all are having great luck and enthusiasm with the little "fellers".
Keep on posting so we may also follow everyone's progress.

[jeffandheidi]

Hey Mark! You and Joe are our heroes! The amount if time, effort, gasoline and sweat the two of you put into preparing for this spring is more than anyone could have asked for. Thank you!!

You can count of frequent updates, especially when hunting begins.

[jeffandheidi]

Put jesses on last night and he didn't care or pull his feet away at all. Actually I put on two sets. The first pair didn't leave a pigs room for growth I didn't think so I unthreaded them and put on a slightly wider set.
Tethered this morning and offered a bath pan (pie plate) this afternoon while I could sit and watch. Within minutes he hopped in, took a couple drinks and made a funny attempt at bathing and dunking his butt.


On a side note I had one tick bite on my ankle from last weekend that started expanding and turning red. The blood test results won't be back for a week but for now I'm being treated as if its Lyme disease! Stupid ticks.

[BestBeagler]

Jeff, enjoying the updates. Hope it's not Lyme's disease. These guys grow so fast! I've been plucking sparrows in front of my bird before I feed him feathers going everywhere. He's very entertained by that and is already checking out sparrows bobbing and weaving he's head when he sees them in the sparrow trap.

[hcmcelroy]

Jeff,

When we lived in Mexico we walked through the jungle by the hour searching for various hawks including Bat falcons and aplos and despite all sorts of preventative measures we ended the day with large numbers of ticks. The sites itched for months!

Hope you are free and clear.

Harry.

[Breeze]

Hi Jeff! Enjoying your thread, awesome bird you have there! Look forward to keeping up with your adventures together. Hope the tick bite is just an irritation and nothing more.

[falcon56]

Also, be aware of tick fever. While in Africa in 2002, I was rummaging around under a Crowned eagle nest hoping to find a monkey skull, and got into a ton of pepper ticks, pin head sized red ticks. Once we were back in the states had a weird sore on my thigh-tick fever. A round of antibiotics did the trick. Really don't know if the US ticks carry this or not.

[jeffandheidi]

Hey Isaac, I can't believe how fast these guys change. We have gone from feeding cut meat, to a scored carcass, to just opening a fresh bird and letting the hawk tear and feed itself. This many changes over just two days. He flaps and jumps a lot when I carry him around on the box, not getting much air yet but any day now. Being tethered to a floor perch hasn't bothered him at all.

Harry- that had to be an incredible experience having access to such a variety of raptors!
This morning the inflamed area was 9cm across. Hope it starts shrinking soon. Stupid ticks.

Thanks Deb! I'll keep updating this thread as things change. At the rate we are going we should be getting to the field in a couple weeks.

Sleeping.

[jeffandheidi]

Thanks Ray, that sounds really cool. They started me on Doxycycline yesterday, hopefully this is all there is to it. I hope you found the skull you were looking for!

[jeffandheidi]

He has been flapping and jumping a lot more today, and if anyone sits with the box on their lap, or just nearby he will run over to lie down on their chest. It's funny when he is on someone else's chest and starts preening because the feather cases and down go everywhere. Yesterday he took three baths, and it seems like his appetite is increasing if you can believe that. Anyone considering a shin really does need a freezer full of food before taking an eyas. I was fortunate to have access to hundreds of starlings over the winter, otherwise we might be in trouble.
I'm still doing constant food availability, but thinking about moving to three mealtimes and making him come to the lure for them. I hesitate to start because right now his personality is very sweet and I don't want to rush things and screw him up.

A couple from this morning.

[HERMANN]

Hey Jeff I am enjoying following the threads growing like a weed keep em comin!

[jeffandheidi]

Thanks Mark, will do! His feathers are growing incredibly fast. Major branching today. He stands and flaps usually gaining a few inches of air anytime I carry him around. He prefers a persons lap to his nestbox and loves to splash in his bath pan.
He doesn't know how to slice however, which I am ok with. He squats when he mutes. Go figure.

[HGlider]

He squats when he mutes. Go figure.

Maybe it's a female instead.

[jeffandheidi]

Lol, it is making cleanup easier than I expected!

Major branching exercise again today. He has been flapping/ hopping about two feet horizontally and a foot or so vertically. He isn't really exploring that much, but moving to a new perch to look around and preen for a while. If I want him back on the nestbox I either move the meat around in the lure and he will come investigate or if he is above the floor I hold the box in front of him and he steps right in. Down feathers are everywhere in the house.

[jeffandheidi]

He has discovered that he can fly. Laps are ok to sleep on, but living room furniture is the preferred obstacle course. When he is tethered to his bow, that's where he stays with no bates or problems. With all this mobility I have ended the constant food availability. I'll do three feeding a a day making him walk/ run to the lure. Each session is as much food as he wants, for now, but when he walks off the lure goes away. Still bathing and drinking a couple times a day as well. I really like this little guy. The second dark tail stripe is almost completely out now.

[vlp]

It's neat to see the growth difference between the males and females. Nice simple lightweight bow perch you made. I'm excited to see how everyone's experience goes this season. My girl is 199 gm this am and probably about same age. I don't think we met up there. Everyone was wiped by end of day with long drives home and way excited with their new charge

[jeffandheidi]

Hey Vincent, yeah it was a busy day, not much time to meet new friends in the other group unfortunately.
Thanks, the bow works ok for now, the base is filled with sand so he can't move it at least not yet. He is flying a lot farther in the house 10-15 feet this morning. I've still been taking him in the backyard in the mornings for some sun on about a five ft. long weighted leash and he walks around in the grass and lies down in the sun. He eats his fill on the lure, comes in for a bath and then sleeps for a couple hours. We haven't thought much about restrained baggies yet, it may still be a while.

[jeffandheidi]

[wesleyc6]

Hey Vincent, yeah it was a busy day, not much time to meet new friends in the other group unfortunately.
Thanks, the bow works ok for now, the base is filled with sand so he can't move it at least not yet. He is flying a lot farther in the house 10-15 feet this morning. I've still been taking him in the backyard in the mornings for some sun on about a five ft. long weighted leash and he walks around in the grass and lies down in the sun. He eats his fill on the lure, comes in for a bath and then sleeps for a couple hours. We haven't thought much about restrained baggies yet, it may still be a while.

Hey Jeff is your bird more sedentary outside? My little guy is much more active inside than outside. He did fly up on the porch today but usually he just sits around outside. Also he hasn't eaten hardly anything today but I had to leave for a few hours. Hope he ate some while I was gone. I am going to three a day feedings now too

[jeffandheidi]

Hey Wes, he is only sedentary for a few minutes outside when he spreads out and lies down. Once he is done with that he gets pretty active hopping around and preening. After about five minutes he starts panting and trying to head for shade so I scoop him up and take him inside to the bath pan.

I think he is going to be tethered in the house all the time from now on. He is just getting too good at flying and I worry that he will end up behind the fridge or hurting himself another way I won't think of until it is too late.

[wgtail]

Hi Jeff, looks like your having a blast. Keep the pictures coming. By the way haven't see a name yet, what did the girls pick out for their new friend?