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Writer's pictureHeather McNemar

A Respectable Season with an American Kestrel

A hallux talon sheath injury ended Ally’s season this weekend. I can take these things a little easier when they happen in the field. That’s falconry. It’s even easier to come to terms with when the bird has had a great season, and there is some promise of recovery. Years ago, I would not have handled it so well, but if you’re in falconry long enough, you’ll find out, things can be so much worse than losing a talon sheath.


The slips are still good here, and that sucks, but I’m hopeful Ally will recover if not well enough to remain a falconry bird next season, at least well enough to be released. I’ve been in falconry long enough to experience the alternative more than once, and that puts this year's season-ender into perspective.


I’m so thankful for Ally’s season. It was a season built on the seasons and birds before it. It was a season built with the help of other great falconers. It was a season in which goals my hawking partner and I had set for ourselves were finally met. Goals that we'd worked towards for years.


I also had the opportunity to share a day hawking with one of my best friends who had never been. It was special for me to show her firsthand something I’m constantly talking about. We had several other friends tag along, too, and I loved experiencing hawking through their eyes. While being a falconer is heavily technical and goal-oriented for me, the laughs and memories made are what I ultimately remember in the years following.


In a place where the season is short and prey base for an American Kestrel is plentiful enough to take game consistently, but not as abundant as many other places in the U.S., I consider Ally’s season a major success. Her numbers broke down for the diehard hawkers like myself:


ALLY PASSAGE FEMALE AMKE (1st Season)

Trap Weight: 122.4g, Empty Crop, 3.5 Keel

Average Flight Weight: 87.8g


Days Hawked: 41 (March 25 - May 26)

Took Multiples: 27x

Best Day: 8 Starlings

Season Head Count: 103 Starlings



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