Gonna be gone...

[Falconerwa]

For 2 weeks! Hunting trip into the High Desert of Oregon. My moms watching Gyr, the cage is gonna be in the parents room. please let everything with him go OK . haha i have some faith in my parents for this.

ill talk to ya'll when i get back!!! and ill have pictures!

Matt

[shadowsmom]

Have fun and be careful!! I can't wait to see the pics!

[catschair]

Have a great trip; sounds like fun!!

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Can't wait to see photos! Gyr will miss you!

[Falconerwa]

Due to implications that i wasnt fond of, and had to take care of, i came home more than a week early from my dream hunting vacation...

the routine was:

5:00am, Wake up!!
to
5:30am, Get birds ready, leave for hunting at 5:30am ON THE DOT

We leave right when the sun starts to rise, the high desert has a beautiful sunrise, but i didnt get a picture sadly, too much to do in the mornings!

We hunt until we catch as much as we want to basically, or until it gets to hot... too hot is basically, at about 10:30am+

after we get done hunting, we get back to the cabin we rented, we throw the game in the freezer, and put the birds out on the lawn, and let em sit in the nice sun!

later on in the night, my buddy Danny, has a Gyrfalcon/Peregrine hybrid male, called Chump, that we fly right before the sun goes down.

so, birds we had were...

2 goshawks, a male (or tiercel is what we call male birds) who was immature, and a 2nd year female.

Here is, Gremlin, the female goshawk, and my Mentor, Aaron:






The immature Tiercel, unnamed:





we had alot of Harris Hawks! i think... 5

Heres an Immature:


as for the others, well, they bore me, and i didnt take more pictures of them :-P

Dan had brought 2 Hybrid, Gyrfalcon/Peregrines, a Female, Maybelline, who was a complete Doll, and a Male Chump:

Chump:




So now comes Maybelline, i have alot of pictures of her, she was such a riot, i gave her my cell phone for example, and she, turned it on and off, turned it on vibrate, called someone, and edited a contact, while she picked at it (it was all incidental turning on and off etc)











In the car ride back up to WA, we had her in the back, with that perch actually on boxes, so she was at head height, and she hung out with us on the middle console


And, half of the hawks out on the lawn:



if anyone wants more pictures of the goshawk or something, tell me and ill upload em!

Hope ya liked em!

Matt

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Wow, what wonderful photos! I love the ones of Maybelline, especially the one where she's looking at the camera from upside down! She does look like a real character!

What are the perches called on which the birds sit? I notice several kinds. Is there any rhyme or reason for this or are they just variations so as to not bore the birds (like different cage perches)?

Also, what kind of stance is Maybelline in where she's on the floor with her feet and wings tucked under?

Finally, do these raptors ever attack humans? Just curious if there is any danger.

Oh, and one more question- Do the birds respond to vocal directives?

Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Laura

[Falconerwa]

Wow, what wonderful photos! I love the ones of Maybelline, especially the one where she's looking at the camera from upside down! She does look like a real character!

What are the perches called on which the birds sit? I notice several kinds. Is there any rhyme or reason for this or are they just variations so as to not bore the birds (like different cage perches)?
We have, Block Perches, like the one you see Maybelline on, Ring Perches, like the one Gremlin is on, and Bow Perches, which you see the immature goshawk on. The reason being we have this type of perches, is foot structure, Falcons evolved to stand on cliffs, and have nests on bare cliffs over looking areas, they dont stand on branches usually. while hawks evolved in trees, or standing on round perches. But, occasionally you will see a hawk on a block perch, mainly, because well, how many times have you seen a red tailed hawk ontop of a pole? ;-) -M

Also, what kind of stance is Maybelline in where she's on the floor with her feet and wings tucked under?
That stance, is the "well, im gonna go lay down and sleep now" stance of the 2.5 month old Gyr/Peregrine hehe -M

Finally, do these raptors ever attack humans? Just curious if there is any danger.
On VERY rare occasions. this ONLY happens if the bird was trained wrong, usually, what we call a misimprint. some birds we train, we imprint, making them think they are human in a way. if this is done wrong, they can be aggressive. but dont worry, this is a very rare thing! -M

Oh, and one more question- Do the birds respond to vocal directives?
Well, when we find game, and we see it, but the birds dont, we yell (usually) "HO HO HO HO!!!!" (some people yell "rabbit!" alot, or "Woah!" multiple times) and it gets the birds pumped, and they look in the direction we are, and usually spot the game. Besides that, depending on training, they can know a whistle means food, or a clicker means food, and such things like that, as for "well, turn right at that sage brush and catch the sage rat" no, not really ;-) there have been cases when some birds know their name, but thats only after years of having a bird. and it really doesnt do much. -M

Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Haha, no problem! anymore questions guys and gals? ask away!

[ROYJOY]

fascinating.

[CrazyforCockatiels]

Falconerwa~ Thanks so much for answering my questions. As ROYJOY said, fascinating, truly fascinating! Can you recommend any books on falconry just for someone like me who is interested in it but doesn't plan on taking it up? Thanks again!

[Falconerwa]

if you dont plan on taking it up, really only the library can help, sadly they dont offer many books.