Flight

A lot has happened since my last post.  Isabeau never ceases to amaze me.  This bird is so smart!  I free flew her for the first time and she acted like she'd been trained for her entire life.  The goal when free flying is to have them follow the falconer.  The falconer walks in the direction they want to go and the bird flies from one spot to the other behind you or sometimes leapfrogging with you, but always nearby.  Getting higher up in the tree is a good thing as well because it gives them a better vantage point, but it's something a lot of young birds have to be taught themselves.  Isabeau immediately went as high as she could and she followed me better than my dog does!
I started out by putting her on a tree branch on the creance (a long thin line used in training to allow them to fly longer distances while still being restrained) and having her come to me and then I removed the creance and let her jesses hang free and, with my heart in my throat, launched her off of my glove.  She found a tree and went high into it and I called her back down to me to reinforce that, while she was now unrestrained, the game was still the same.  She came right to me, at which time I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  I sent her back to the tree and started walking away.  After a few moments, I heard the jingle of her bells and looked over my shoulder to see her fly into the tree directly behind me.  She was following me!  She willingly chose to stay with me rather than fly away!  We were a team! I continued to call her down to the glove as I walked, increasing the distance each time, until she had followed me for 100 yards without a tidbit.  At that time, I threw the lure out for her and she slammed it.  Our first free flight ended with my bird coming home with me!

Look, Ma!  No leash!

We continued to train with her free flying.  She very quickly learned to follow without me needing to call her down to the glove for tidbits and continued getting higher and higher in the trees as she went. I've learned that if she isn't following closely enough or if I lose sight of her, I can stop and turn around and she'll fly up to the nearest tree.  If she doesn't, then I know that she either sees something that interests her or she thinks she does and I need to go back to her.  Her eyesight is far better than mine, so when we fly, it's a dance.  She trusts and follows me and when she sees something I don't, I trust her and we turn in that direction to check it out.  Now it's time to see how that plays out when we're actually hunting and she's not just waiting for me to throw the lure.

Any day you come home with your bird is a good day.