2013 Sharp shinned hawk. "Sweet P".

[colelkhunter]

I wasn't going to post pics or start a thread but I am getting harrassed, so here you go ya vultures.

Pulled june 15, estimated 8 days of age. Female sharpie "Sweet P". P is short for Pterodactyl. She will be a full socialization imprint with full food association otherwise known as "Hand fed". No fear shown out of the nest tree with slight hesitation after one day at home. No noise or chittering so far and has been eating like a horse. Socializing with the dogs and daily car trips have already begun. Starting to show feather ferrules protruding from the down now. She is also starting to stand and flap. Should not be too long before she stands for longer periods. Diet is consisting of sparrow entirely at this point with food being left on her lure. Her visual accuity is starting to pick up as she sits and watches everything now, following it with her head. Eyes are brightening just a little to a darkish blue. Placed in a smaller, lower sided nest bowl today with astro turf to clean her original nest bowl. I think she likes this one better.

[colelkhunter]

More pics

[colelkhunter]

Pics from the pull day.

[colelkhunter]

more

[PeteJ]

Nice feet on that little gem of yours Brian. I can hear the Starlings now....

[BestBeagler]

Brian, it's sharpie mania on nafex! It was nice meeting you in person. Hope to meet you again sometime!

[wesleyc6]

More pics

Dang she looks mean in that one pic. I know she isn't, but already an intense little pose. She should be taking game tomorrow or the next day

[colelkhunter]

I slipped her on three sparrows today! They were pretty slow, being in a bowl and all...

[hcmcelroy]

Brian,

Thanks for the description of behavior and the photos!

She looks most inviting.

Harry.

[colelkhunter]

Today she is a little more hesitant and moves away at my initial contact in the morning. She warms up quickly and settles in to eat her first meal of the day. I cannot help but think this is a result of the age at which she was pulled as previous sharpies that I have imprinted have never shown this. She is being socialized more intensely today to try to rectify this a little. Almost constant contact with me and other people. I have several guys working in my front yard and got them to play with her on their lunch hour.

[jeffandheidi]

Ragged line for sure, this is my first Shin so everything is new. Comparing the pics you and Wes have shared it looks like mine is at least a day older, but he's still laid back. The first morning at home he gaped once, first contact of the day, like your bird. It was early morning and a little dark still so I attributed it to that. (?)

Does your bird back away and chitter or just lean away from your hand? It will be interesting to see if it lasts into training with weight reduction and hunting.

[colelkhunter]

she doesn't start eating immediately on first contact in the morning. She stares at me and kind of pulls her head back. No chittering or noise at all. Matter of fact she hasn't made a sound of any kind. I can see it in her eyes however. Once she takes that first bite she is great and will even preen my fingers when I rub the down on her back. That little resistance is sometimes more than enough if you are paying attention. Everything happens fast with a sharpie. Tiny little things become huge issues overnight it seems. The rapid progression of their growth makes the falconer ever vigilant in paying attention to the details with them.

[BestBeagler]

I think I chose the youngest one in the bunch. He was a bit hesitant to the touch but not out of fear. I just kept petting him and playing with his feet and yesterday I had him in the nest bowl on my chest and he scooted over to be next to my face. Finger feeding has helped it seems. He's become a cuddle bug. I think the chicks in the first nest where the youngest, but it was weird some birds that where older seemed to show no fear and some birds that where younger did?

[colelkhunter]

Did I say leaps and bounds? Yeah, I meant that....

Wake up at 0630 to the sound of "Thud, thud.....thud". Nothing in my house makes that noise. Dog wasn't barking, so they knew it was going on. Went out to my hawk table and find the sharpie standing, flapping and jumping. She is out of the nest bowl and trying to figure out how to get up on the bow perch next to the nest bowl.

Feeding time. I placed her lure into the nest bowl and she hopped back in, sat down and waited to be fed. Turn of a page today I think. No hesitation at all this morning.

[jeffandheidi]

That's great news Brian!

[hcmcelroy]

Brian,

She sounds good to me. My only suggestion is to watch her carefully as she begins to hard pen and creep the weight down if she becomes withdrawn slightly but only enough to keep her attentive. Best of luck but so far so good.

Harry.

[Breeze]

Hi Brian! Loving this thread! Thanks for sharing - look forward to following Sweet P (love the name!) and you all season. Enjoy!

[colelkhunter]

Pics from today. 17 days approximately. Feathers are showing well now. About an inch through the down on the primaries and a little more on the train. Today was a good training day. My mini doxies has basically took Sweet P to raise.She licked her all over and layed with her today next me. Kinda got irritated when I put Sweet P back on the hawk table. Standing a little more today but not too well. Flapping a lot but not getting anywhere.

[colelkhunter]

Food on the lure this morning and what a greedy little pig! She is quite taken with the lure already. I modified it last night with some leather wings so I didn't look so much like scrotum, reasons are obvious. While I worked on it, she stared at me across the room and seemed to be unsettled. Lure was put back with her when I finished and she settled in with it for her last meal of the day. Wedding to the lure? Check.

[BestBeagler]

I modified it last night with some leather wings so I didn't look so much like scrotum, reasons are obvious.

What beaches do you fly on LOL? I always fly my birds with my clothes on but to each their own! Speaking of scrotums lol I like Mario's kangaroo scrotum lures. I'm going make one.

[colelkhunter]

I like Mario's kangaroo scrotum lures. I'm going make one.

That's what I am using now (refer to the first series of picture). I added leather wings to it for good measure. Mine weighs 70g and is the perfect size.

[jeffandheidi]

Hey Brian

Sounds like things are going great for you guys! I have tethered mine for a couple hours a day after feeding and for during time he has only walked to the end I his jesses a couple times. The rest of the time he bathes, sleeps and preens.

My only other accipiter experience has been with cooper hawks and this is the time frame just before hack when the lure becomes so important. Not doing a hack with this bird is making me feel like I am missing steps. The lure is in his nest box, but its more of a dinner plate.

[colelkhunter]

That's really all you can do at this point. The lure is a dinner plate for my girl as well. She knows that it represents food and is now walking over to it looking for food. She will follow it if you remove it. That is a good start to great lure response. Sweet P is starting to pluck at the carcass if the sparrows today. So she was left with a whole carcass after feeding. So far so good.

[jeffandheidi]

Wow, I posted that earlier response from my phone without previewing it first. Sorry, I'll blame multitasking and autocorrect.

[Breeze]

Hey Brian! Glad to hear your velociraptor has fledged. LOL! Totally enjoying your thread - amazing to watch Sweet P change so quickly!

[colelkhunter]

Hey Brian! Glad to hear your velociraptor has fledged. LOL! Totally enjoying your thread - amazing to watch Sweet P change so quickly!

She migrated from Velociraptor to Pterodactyl today. In the span of one day she fledged the nest. Took over my entire living room as her territory and established a no fly zone for all airborne bugs. She is now sitting with the dachshunds on the couch preening. Second lure call to the coffee table was successful as well as a short carry on the fist.

[colelkhunter]

pep talk.

[colelkhunter]

Requisite bird on the computer shot.

[colelkhunter]

Dachshunds and sharpies go together like peanut butter and jelly. This pic was while both were getting fed tidbits. One after the other, taking turns.

[jeffandheidi]

How are you guys doing?