Animal progress

Irb is better all the time and thinks he is 100%, though he still has a month on house arrest before he can run loose. (WE are a bit battered but that will be another story– he nearly broke Libby’s ribs the other night). When he is running we will give any benefactor who requests …

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Winter in Mongolia

Lauren is becoming a serious horsewoman as well as a Berkutchi, in the depths of a winter that can reach -50C at night. And she is getting the spectacular flights that ignorant American falconers deny eagles can do. An excerpt: “I’ve had confirmation from World Vision that it has reached -50 C where I have …

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Lauren’s first fox

Lauren reports from Mongolia: I’m amazed at how fast training progresses here! I’m about 150 km south of Olgii, outside a town called Daluun near the Chinese border. The falconers in this area only fly passage eagles, and luckily, its been a great year for fox. You won’t believe, but I’ve already seen eleven fox …

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Amarillo 2009

Happy Thanksgiving All. Just a few pictures from my last-week trip to the Texas Panhandle. Photographs by Eric Edwards and Brian Millsap. Some scenes from hawking cottontails and jackrabbits with the Harris’ hawks: We caught quite a few cottontails and ate most of them. Here’s one that got away:And one that didn’t:Ernie’s first jack, a …

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Animal update

Irbis is HUGE and still growing. Last year’s problem bird BB (Bad Bird, Bird Brain) is this year’s delight (Big Bird). Now I need a pic of the Barb- Taita “Chicken” (nicknamed for her ferocious rushes at our feet– her real name is Fidget , after Vadim Gorbatov’s Peregrine protagonist).

Bird & Pupdate

She is not getting aerial as fast as I’d like but she is working perfectly with the dogs. Irbis,as befits his youth, stays a respectable distance away. Ataika would rebuke him if he didn’t. Ataika, who knows how to inspire confidence in a bird, gets a lot closer in hope of a tidbit.

Why I have Been Busy

(In addition to paying (I hope) work:) Growing a bird from a fuzzball to an almost real bird: Growing a pup: Teaching the pup about birds: The bird (female3/4 Barb 1/4 Taita) is a natural chatterbox; not a food screamer– just vocal. Names have been selected by friends from all along the Barbary’s vast range; …

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“Our” Fulbright Scholar

As Patrick Burns is fond of saying, “The kids are alright.”Happily I know a few who are more than alright. Our campus is full of bright young people, and heralding their accomplishments is one pleasure of my job. But we encounter some rare souls who, like Steve and his blog partners (and our readers), are …

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