First Hunt

Saturday was a bust as I didn't get out until sunset. I buzzed through a nearby industrial park looking for a quick slip but ended up playing our lure game in the house. Quite the disappointment.

Douyoubi wa dame deshita. Jikan ga nakutte ie de kunren shita dake desu.

Sunday I was determined to get out but it seems like her metabolism has slowed to a crawl! It was 3:00 before she was ready to go. I had to run to the pet shop to grab some mice before I headed to the industrial park and that took me past the bush of temptation. And boy was it loaded! Sparrows EVERYWHERE! I admit, I gave in. I beeped her up and rolled down my window. She did a few head bobs but didn't go. I thought it might be because I've never flown her out of the car before so I parked next to the bush and got out with her on the fist. Each time I'd kick the bush about 20 sparrows would dart out but after 5 or so kicks with no reaction I figured she wasn't going to go.Not to be discouraged I headed to the industrial park.

Nichiyoubi yatto kari ni dekakemashita. Mazu esa wo kai ni itte sono chikaku ni suzume ga ippai iru shokubutsu ga arimasu. Suzume wa anmari yaritakunakatta kedo (tsukamattara doko ka ni tonde itte shimau younna ki ga suru kara), yuwaku ni makette amecho wo dashimashita. Ji~ to mitta kedo ikanakatta. Kuruma kara dasou to shita kara kana to omotte kuruma wo demashita. Sukai shokubutsu wo kette takusan no suzume ga detta kedo mada ikanakatta desu. Gakkari!

I found 3 starlings sitting on a curb just asking to be whacked but they must of heard my evil laugh as I was turning around and took off before I could make the slip. I wandered around for another hour or so and while there were a good number of starlings on light posts, in trees, and on wires I couldn't find any more on the ground. TONS of bunnies though... Strange when you see more bunnies than starlings!!With the sun quickly disappearing, the siren song of the sparrow bush lured me back.

Are kara chikaku no koen ni itte starling wo mitsukemashita. Kuruma kara dasou to omotte kaiten shitara starling ga tonde itte shimatta. Ato ichi jikan gurai starling wo sagashimashita. Takusan itta kedo ki ka denshin hashira nado ni tomatte imashita. Nakanaka oritte konakatta desu. Usagi ga takusan itta kedo...

As I entered the parking lot I rolled down my window and rolled slowly past the bush. There were a few along the curb and a couple sitting on top of the bush, a head bob or two and she was off! She went for one on top of the bush though and it easily evaded her shot by ducking into the cover. Dulcinea sat on top of the bush looking down when suddenly a few more sparrows came dashing toward the bush and one almost collided with her as it headed for the same pocket the previous sparrow had used to disappear. The kbird shot her foot out and may have connected with some feathers but nothing solid to hold on to. Knowing the sparrows weren't going to come out with a little extra persuasion now I held my fist out the car window and, like she'd been doing it her whole life, she came right in. I quickly parked and walked over to the bush with Dulcinea held high. She knew the sparrows were in the bush though and wanted to be close to the action so she flew down to the bush. So much for the height advantage. I kicked a few times and the sparrows chirped and twittered but didn't want to come out. Unfortunately the kbird couldn't get in from where she was either. Finally after a good deal of shaking and rattling I'd gotten the hold outs to abandon the cover but none of them got chased.

Jya, suzume no tokoro ni modorou to omotte ikimashita. Yukkuri hashite konkai amecho ga ikimashita! Zannen nagara suzume wa shokubutsu no manaka ni haitte torenakatta. Shikashi shokubutsu no ue ni tomatte itta aida hoka no suzume ga shokubutsu ni hairou to shimashita. Ashi wo dashite hane gurai wa attata kamoshirenai kedo shikkari motsu koto ga dekinakatta. Amecho ga iru kara suzume ga zettai denai to wakatta node kuruma wo tomette shokubutsu wo kemashita. Kettemo detta suzume wo oikakenakatta.

With the light fading fast I pulled out the lure and tossed it to the ground. She was on it in a flash but got the dang tidbit off again and took it into the bush! I wasn't too worried as it wasn't too much of a tidbit but she went in quite deep and it took about 20 minutes of me whistling and clicking for her to find her way out. Once she did she hopped right to the fist, I fed her up and we headed home.

Taiyo ga shizumu tokoro datta node lure wo dashimashita. Sugu ni totta kedo lure ni tsuketta niku wo hazushite shokubutsu ni hairimashita! Dette kuru nowa 20pun kakarimashita! Dette kara sugu ni te ni tonde kite nokori no esa wo yatte kaerimashita.

So while we didn't put anything in the bag we at least got a chase and I came home with my bird. I would consider that a success. Onward and upward, we're hunting from here on out!

Kekkyoku nanimo toranakatta kedo suzume wo oikaketta shi taka wo nakushinakatta node seiko to omowarette ii to omoimasu. Kunren ga owatte kore kara kari bakkari desu.