I decided to make jerky out of a 15 pound cut of moose meat.  After thinly slicing, as it thawed out, and then soaking in marinade for 2 days, this is a photo of the first of 3 batches that spent 8 hours in the oven at 160 degrees.  Months later, I'm still toting around a big bag of the stuff in my vehicle, to snack on while I'm out duck hunting.  It's also a nice way to share some moose with friends.

The population of domestic birds on our property increased again this year.  We raised quite a few bantams.  Pictured here are red cochins, but we tossed an auracauna, a few silkies and a pair of silver seabrights into the mix as well.

Tough to tell from this shot, but I had a flap of cartilage ripped from my left ear this past summer, permanently altering its shape.  (though it did heal back together again pretty nicely)  I climbed into a nest of goshawk chicks to photograph the young, and the mother did her best to punish me for my efforts!  She really tore into me, on my way up the tree, shredding my shirt and leaving puncture wounds in my forearms, neck and head.  Pretty daunting thing to tolerate when you're 40 feet up an old dead pine tree and climbing with no protection.  I spent less than 2 minutes with her chicks, left them all there, and then began a rapid descent to seek medical attention!

Still playing with my new camera!  I took several shots like this while sitting near an active merlin nest this year, during the quiet 45 minute periods of time that drifted by between the noisy food-passing and courtship rituals that correspond with rearing a nest full of hungry baby falcons.

Grouse Marsala at the end of a long day of hunting in Lincoln, Maine with my lifelong buddy Randy.  Life is good! 

I spent a lot of time with friends and on my own this year, prospecting for new areas to pursue upland game birds close to home.  It was sad to leave Sadie behind for these outings, but she is truly retired at this point, so Frannie and I embraced the new arrangement and gave it our best effort.  Consequently, we were rewarded with poignant moments and some great meals on the dinner table.

One of the most enjoyable hours of the past year.  We were catching alewives on ultralight spinning gear, and hooked into a sturgeon!  The fight went on, ane on, and on, and was filled with dramatic moments, and lots of laughs, and feelings of falling in love with Maine, and with our small town, all over again.

Frannie continues to grow and learn.  She absolutely loves the water, and spent lots of time swimming and retrieving this past summer and fall.  I'm still a pointer and setter guy at heart, but I wouldn't hesitate to get another Vizsla in the future.

It's time to revive this blog a bit.  I've been serving the North American Falconers' Asociation as a regional director for quite a while now, and I'm very happy volunteering my efforts, but it has taken much more time out of my daily schedule than I had anticipated.  Thus, some of the "fluff" like this blog, and other things, have taken a back seat.

I'm back, with updates.

Sheep shearing in the northland of New Zealand.

This is the last photo that we took with our campervan.  I loved this thing.  We slept everywhere in it, made meals out of it, took naps in it, etc..   I really found myself wanting to come home, buy a similar van, build in all the custom "amenities" and use it as my cross-country falconry vehicle, going from meet to meet with a team of dogs and hawks.

Goat Island, Northland, North Island, New Zealand.

Bridal Veil Falls. 

Raglan sunset.

The infamous Taranaki Dog-Knappers!  I spotted them along the New Plymouth coast, planning their next evil deed.

The road to Mount Taranaki!  I didn't get to see this famous mountain during my first trip to New Zealand, but this time I actually spent quite a bit of time very close to it, visiting friend and fellow falconer Rachel Stewart.  Great area to visit!

My favorite picture from the trip.  We spent a night in this spot, and the views, especially during sunset and sunrise were great.  This is a really nice area south of Napier, not far from many of the wineries of the Hawke's Bay region.

Wine tasting!  Had to do it!

I saw lots of this in New Zealand: Emily walking along in remote locations, carrying her purse!  We had all of our cash and passports, etc. in the purse and it was the only thing that we didn't dare to leave in our campervan.... although, let's face it, NZ is a country where folks leave their toddlers alone in unlocked cars at the grocery store, so we probably could have taken the risk.

Reunited with old friends Noel and Debbie in Rotorua.  Emily had a great time meeting these fine folks and we stayed up late telling stories and watching videos of New Zealand falconry.  These two are incredible people and heros to the raptor community.  Great, wonderful, passionate ambassadors.   

The difficulty of trout fishing in New Zealand lies not in catching fish, but in catching trout that are small enough to warrant killing for a meal.  After catching bigger fish on this particular day, I decided that this rainbow would become dinner.  We ate well that night.

The day after we got married, Emily decided that she needed to go "zorbing" which means climbing into a huge ball and being rolled down a hill.  It's an activity that was invented by a New Zealander, and has really caught on.  She came out of the experience in hysterics and claimed that it was the most fun thing she had ever done! 

Sunrise at Papamoa Beach, the sight where the "Rena," a huge shipping vessel, was run aground last year by an irresponsible pilot who should have been strung up and hung in public for the damage he caused to the Bay of Plenty. 

Alfred Hitchcock, eat your heart out!

I'm always attracted to the combination and contrast of saltwater coastlines and pastoral settings with livestock.  Something about it appeals to me in a way that I can't explain.  It could simply be that it pleases the Irish kid that lives within me, but the nice thing is that the combination is plentiful in New Zealand.

This is where we spent our first morning in New Zealand, not far from the town of Thames, in the Coromandel Peninsula.  I caught a beautiful rainbow trout on my third cast, at first light, while Emily was still asleep in our newly rented campervan. Thus began the adventures! 

Gotta rewind the clock a bit here....
I haven't written about it on this blog because it was kind of a private and personal trip, but back in March, Emily and I got married in New Zealand.  We spent a few weeks down there extensively exploring the north island and had such a wonderful vacation and experience that it would be difficult to do it any justice in this format.  It was amazing, and even better than we had hoped it would be.

The annual shad run is ON!! 

On opening morning of the turkey season, Niels and I called in a pair of Toms and had the unusual opportunity to score a double on turkeys.  Niels took the first bird, and I followed his lead by beading up on the second.  It was an exhileratingly fun hunt, and played itself out in "textbook" format.  It was a great morning that will go down in my favorite memories.

I was lucky to grow up with these two guys by my side.  And I'm even more blessed to still have their friendship in my life.  At this stage of our lives, it's an unusual treat for all of us to get together, and when the group of four is completed by Nate's appearance, it's cause for celebration.  Thanks for everything guys!  Here's to the future...

The shop opens tomorrow and I'm looking forward to being surrounded by the buzz and excitement of employees and customers.  It will be good to get back to the energy of the ice cream season.  I've always enjoyed the changing seasons, and summer to me, is ice cream season, and comes in a variety of familiar "flavors."

My very last day of hawking for the 2011-2012 season was enjoyed with Pete and Erin, who are my closest hawking buddies, and two previous Directors of NAFA (Scott K. and Marek P.) and their wives.  We flew a tiercel peregrine on the pigeons that were using this cow barn for shelter.  It was much more fun than one might guess, but the reason I'm including it here is so that I can mention the North American Falconers' Association for a moment.  I don't often talk about my involvement with NAFA, and have never mentioned on this blog that I'm a Director for the association, but it has become a major part of my life and my daily thoughts, and I want to simply say that if you're a falconer reading this, and not a member of NAFA, please contact me and give me an opportunity to talk you into joining.  If you're a reader of this blog, and already a dues-paying member, consider volunteering for the organization in some way or serving on a committee.  It's a rewarding experience to give back to the organization that has provided so much for all of us who love the sport.  Give me a call, and I'll help you find a way to serve.  That's my little soapbox plea for the month.

The more time I spend in Maine, the more I realize how important my community is to me.  The friends and family that I am lucky enough to have around me are hugely important to me, and in large part, responsible for most of my happiness.  In some cases, closeness is such that there seems to be no clear delineation between "friend" and "family."

Frannie is fully grown, and well-muscled.  Her bird training work will continue this summer, and by fall she should be more than ready to perform well on woodcock and grouse.  Until then, she's enjoying her daily walks with Emily, and her regular trips to the beach so that she can really cruise!

New project in progress.  I've been building kestrel nest boxes and installing them in appropriate habitat.  I'm looking forward to checking in on them this summer, to see if they're being used, and hoping that if they are, the residents will be something other than starlings and wasps. 

I recently scanned some old photos so that I could add them to a lecture that I gave.  It's fun going through old shots like this.  It was a real "blast from the past."  I spend most of my life planning the future and looking ahead.  Old photos remind me of so much that I've forgotten about, and that's where the intrigue in them lies for me.

Want to take a moment here to compliment my new favorite artist, Abigail Diamond.  I've been crazy about her work for about a year now, and Emily recently contacted her and commissioned this barn owl illustration from her, which is now hanging in our dining room.  I love it, and if I had more wall space in the house, I'd buy a pile of Ms. Diamond's beautiful creations.  Check her out at; http://finchfight.tumblr.com/

This is the last photo that I snapped of my peregrine on the day that I released her. I caught her at my trapping station back in October, manned her with the aid of a strobe light, trained her to wait-on with a kite, and hunted ducks with her all winter in the same system of marshes that I caught her in. Months later, here she is, being released back to those same tidal marshes. I wish her well out there, and I'm extremely happy to no longer have her in my care.

Flying a passage peregrine falcon this past season was a privilege that I unfortunately didn't enjoy. Merlins aside, I simply don't enjoy flying longwings from a waiting-on position. It doesn't give me the rush that I get from other forms of falconry. My friend Ben Schwartz recently opined that it doesn't appeal to me because watching a peregrine hit a duck from hundreds of feet above is too esoteric to really "blow my hair back" as opposed to the experience of sneaking in on a tidal ditch with a gos at attention and throwing him from the fist as the ducks rise. Goshawks pull me into the action in ways that falcons never can. You nailed it Ben!

This year, Pete and I spent more time hawking together than in years past, and consequently, we had a really fun season. I think all passions are improved through sharing. We shared equally in the successes and failures of our respective birds, and had a lot of laughs while out hunting ducks and crows together. It was reminiscent of the days, long ago, when we were both flying redtailed hawks together. Thanks for a great season Pete.

Look at the sheer joy on the face of this little man! I don't think I've ever met anyone else who smiles as much as I do when a raptor catches a duck! There's something wonderful about sharing falconry with youngsters.

Finnegan just keeps getting better. He just finished up his third season of hunting, and despite being flown much less than the previous two years, he managed to catch and kill more ducks and crows. His confidence is strong and his manners in the field are extremely good. He's one of the nicest goshawks I've ever been around.

Decent shot of an 18 month old peregrine falcon, showing a nice mix of first year (brown) and adult (blue) plumage. Tundra peregrines are notoriously slow to completely moult into their adult feathering. Most similarly sized raptors get it done during their first 16 months of life. Northern peregrines usually take more than 2 years.

Finally having bookcases in my "library" has completely transformed the room. I used to spend all of my spare time keeping busy in our kitchen, but lately I find myself sitting upstairs in my leather chair, reading or tying flies, and sipping a Scotch.

The last "big" project of our home renovation was having custom book cases built in to my library room. Pete and Miles Spadone built and installed the cases, and I loaded them up with all of my falconry books which have been in storage for so many years. It has made me very happy to have access to them again.

Thanks to my old Vermont co-worker and friend, Rob, I finally have an action shot of my goshawk. After three years of hunting with this bird, I've accumulated only a small hadful of pictures of him, and none of them are as good as what Rob managed to capture during a brief visit. Finnegan doin' his thing! Thanks Rob!

In this picture, you can see me being about as happy as I can possibly be! The gentleman at my side is Dr. Heinz Meng of New Paltz, New York. He is a world renowned raptor biologist and also the person who first exposed me to the sport of falconry, forever changing the course of my life. I'll always feel that I owe so much to this man. I have a very short list of "heroes," and in my book, Heinz is right up there with my grandfather and John Muir. I got to share lunch with him last weekend at the annual field meet of the New York State Falconry Association, in Cobleskill. Although I've spoken with him over the phone, I hadn't seen him in person for twenty years, and it really made my day. And if that weren't enough, he took me over to the car and presented me with a cardboard box full of old falconry publications and correspondence from the late 1950's and early 1960's, that will now reside in my library. Thank you so much Heinz!

Here's the pumpkin that Emily carved this year. She did a great job with it, and unlike me, she was excited to make our house look inviting to the neighborhood kids. Unfortunately, she only got to hand out candy to two children, as they were the only ones that came to the door. Maybe the rest of the kids in the area were afraid that the "bird man" would give them a frozen quail or a live pigeon in their little treat bags. There's a very unequal ratio of tricks to treats on Halloween around here.

I carved a pumpkin for my girl. She was very happy with it. And that's about as far as my interest in Halloween goes. Anything to do with decorating, or dressing up, or welcoming small children into the house, goes onto my long list of "Things I Don't Give a Flip About." Apparently, even Halloween brings the curmudgeon out of me. It's not just Christmas that annoys me.

I had to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to update my address, and get a new driver's license, so I brought along a magazine and assumed that I would have to sit there waiting for 45 minutes before getting to talk to a DMV employee, which seems to be par for the course with them. I walked through the buzzing door, grabbed a numbered ticket, and stepped into the waiting area to find that I was literally the ONLY person there, besides the four employees that were staring at me, wondering which of them I would choose to pester. I couldn't believe it!! Still don't....