The Adventurous Falconer

Monday, December 3, 2012

North American Falconer's Association Annual Meet

A few bird dogs

This post is ALL about the birds, birds of prey that is. This past week I got the chance to attend the annual NAFA (North American Falconer's Association) meet in Kearney, Nebraska. This was also where the International Association of Falconry held their elections and meetings as well. The temperatures were substantially warmer than I had expected, I didn't even get a chance to use my wool socks! Although, I will be wearing them for the next several months in Alaska. This meet was over Thanksgiving and had over 400 people in attendance. Falconry is a small community and we all relish the time that we get to talk in such a large gathering. Over the week-long meeting I got the chance to spend quality time with my passage Red Tail Hawk as well as a few okie falconers that I've missed while I've been in Alaska. Meeting new friends is always welcome and there were plenty new faces for me to remember. Attendees came from places including South Africa, Argentina, Germany, England, and all over the US. It is always interesting to see the cultural differences among the falconry community as I am convinced that we are the most diverse bunch of people around with one thing in common, we all love our birds. This is an opportunity to swap hawking stories, show off our birds, and have a few more bodies in the field. Eagles, Owls, Falcons, and Hawks were tethered in the guarded weathering yard. There were a continuous stream of spectators both residents of Kearney interested in seeing what we do and falconers admiring the birds. The conference included nightly raffles, vendors, and speakers giving us all a chance to update our gear and our knowledge. It is always nice to meet newly licensed falconers that have a new bird, and we all have an infectious silly grin when our bird successfully flies and catches game. Some of the best stories come from Prairie Chicken flights, along with bunny, squirrel, and duck flights. When it came down to the end of the week there were several sullen faces as the realization of the end of the meet set in, and we all realize we have to leave and wait another year to see each other again. I am already looking forward to next year's meet in Colorado. Enjoy the photos below!

Adult Goshawks

Adult Goshawk

Full weathering yard

Beautiful Adult Goshawk

Peregrine Falcon

Gyrfalcon

Peregrine Falcon

A Cooper's Hawk

Shot of weathering yard, happy birds

A Falconer's Snowy Owl

Thursday, November 1, 2012

A House is a Home

I know I missed posting for a month! Plenty was done but I never got around to posting so i'll do it now! Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a photographer, at least, not of home interiors. So, while they aren't perfect, hopefully they give you an idea of what the house looks like. Outside pictures of our almost-an-acre home.

Sunlit master and a sneak peek at our indian door bedframe.

Master bedroom

Dining room deck door

Dining room

Messy kitchen

View from our office/craft room

Downstairs hallway

Downstairs lounge area

hard-to-photograph guest bedroom

Downstairs laundry room back door

Avalon wood burning stove. We love it!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

What a Crazy Month

I'll backdate this a bit to tell about some of what has been going on around us. Adam and I have been in closing on our house in Eagle River for quite some time now and living in a rented room (after temporary housing on base) out of a suitcase. At this point in time, it is becoming a bit tiring looking at the same four t-shirts over and over to the point that when I do finally have my full wardrobe back I will probably never want to wear these four shirts again and will feel like I have a closet full of brand new clothes. After begging the current owners I was allowed before closing to build my mew (falconry bird house) and thankfully i've finished it, had it inspected, and have passed the Alaska falconry exam. To those other military members that are going to be PCS'ing in the future maybe the following list will be helpful to you, the below listed items are things I WISH I had brought with us (and a few things I did bring) or put in the baggage that is delivered early. I have never been more tired of trying to decide what to have for dinner. When you start cycling through types of food groups when eating out, it's too much, at least for me. I find myself just wanting a simple salad in order to have something that is remotely healthy. In short, I really miss my flour, and my kitchen. That feels better, now for the list.

A large ziploc baggie of flour and sugar, a small bag of salt, pepper, and misc. commonly used spices
A few of my coats (it's fall now and I am not equipped for snow yet...), more socks
4 towels
Wipes... much needed for takeout on the drive up
A medical pack with commonly used meds, sunscreen and bandages
A crock pot, a few pans for baking
Eye travel mask... I really needed this when we were camping and getting 17 hours of sun a day
Lunch bag... because you'll start work before you get a house.

Fungi on Campbell Creek Trails

Despite not having a house yet, Adam and I have been lucky, stationed in one of the best states for an outdoorsy person. We have gotten to do a multitude of hiking trails in and around Anchorage, many of which were in the Chugach Mountains. We have hiked the popular Flattop Mountain trail, O'malley Pass, as well as Mount Baldy. It is not uncommon this month to hike in the rain, and while the parking lot at the trailheads won't be full, they won't be completely empty either. We passed several hikers on the way up and the way down, in the rain, with wind blowing, a temperature of at least the lower 40's, and sleet at the some of the summits. There isn't anything more gratifying than reaching a summit above the cloud line, and on descent being enveloped by a cloud while it blows through and around you. It isn't uncommon for me to turn and think to myself, "I really live here?". We've begun to learn that even if it is perfect outside we will probably need some sort of light jacket and rain protection for the summit. either on the way up or the way back down. These day hikes are preparing us for future hiking on snowshoes and several day backpacking trips, which we hope to do sometime soon. At this point in time, we have become accustomed to the weather regularly wearing t-shirts and capris when it is in the 50's outside. I think that classifies us as Alaskan's.

Fungi on Campbell Creek Trails

Woodpecker... species updated later

Adam in the cloud on Mount Baldy

Hikers about 30 feet away on Baldy

Window in a cloud on Baldy

In the clouds

View from Mount Baldy when the clouds split

We got a chance to go the the Alaska State Fair. We went with our friends Shalyn and Brandon who you will see in a few of the pictures below. They are also military members, like us, that we met in temporary housing on base because of the fur kids we both have. The fair is smaller than the Oklahoma State Fair but it does have it's perks and the forever good-for-you fair food. Alaska as you may know, is much larger and its' population spread out over vast areas. Therefore, the state fair is more of a regional event, with Fairbanks and Juneau holding their own fairs. We saw a few giant pumpkins and a pretty cool BMX event. The Avett Brothers also had a concert that was pretty great. The audience area was split right down the middle for an alcoholic and non-alcoholic side with general and advanced admission, though all of it was standing. We had fun, even splurging to ride one of the fair rides available, and topped off the evening with popcorn as we were leaving. All in all, a great day.

Shaylyn, Brandon, Adam and I at the concert

BMX show... notice background

BMX show

Avett Brothers Concert... still light in the evening

Sure never tire of mountain pictures

Other giant vegetables, 10 pounder

The winner, over 900 pounds!

Alaska State Fair crowd

Me in front of giant pumpkins

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Welcome to Alaska, Cheechako

Week of 23rd of July 2012

Magpie

When we arrived Adam and I hit the ground running looking at houses the day we got there as we had already narrowed down our search to a top six list. I've learned a few things in the week that I've been here. I've been called a Cheechako, an Alaskan term for newcomer, just so you know. I'll take it as a badge of pride because I know live in the ultimate land of the outdoors, the last frontier. In Alaska, they don't have sno-cone stands. Instead, they have espresso stands and apparently they are very popular. I had my first experience and was bewildered because they not only didn't have sno-cones they seemed to mock me as they had every flavor that belongs in a sno cone stand, but were flavors for coffee instead! The horror! We saw several moose, but sadly I didn't catch a picture of them. The weather in Anchorage so far has been amazing with temperatures in the 60's up to (rarely) the low 70's. Most of the time it is cloudy but I will take it in exchange for the amazing weather! When we arrived it seemed like everyone was out dip-netting. Dip-netting is the act of taking a huge oversized net and standing up to your waist in water or in a boat and "dipping" for the passing by salmon. This can lead to quite a haul i'm told with sometimes over 100 fish being caught by two people. One hundred fish caught also means several hours over a few days of cleaning, processing, vacuum sealing, and freezing the take. It isn't the question of if you hunt in Alaska, it's what do you hunt. I'll let you know how dip-netting turns out for me next summer when season starts again. Our timing arriving at Elmendorf Air Force Base couldn't have been more perfect. We arrived just in time to attend the Arctic Thunder Air Show. This air show happens to be the largest gathering of Alaskan's in one place. This year, on one day of the two day air show there were over 100,000 people in attendance (they even ran out of parking)! The air show takes place on base with the air strip and several hangars opening up full of vendors and children activities. One of the demonstrations was a joint Army/Air Force routine in which a gun fight was staged with two helicopters dropping a big gun and a jeep to fight the "opposing forces".