Having birds on a creance is a nuisance as it tends to get wound up around anything at all, no matter how careful you are, and for that reason I try to dispense with it as soon as possible. It is even worse when training small birds like kestrels or merlins as even a tuft of grass can catch it and drag the eager bird to the ground which is disheartening.

The act of tying food to a lure is something I stop doing as soon as possible also as there is nothing more annoying that a bird that refuses to come to a lure unless it can actually see its dinner. Add to this the fact that when (not “if”, but “when”) the food detaches from the lure, it gives the bird the opportunity of taking off with it and going somewhere quieter to finish its meal. Then you have a hawk that might return for more food, which obviously you will have to tie to the lure even better that the first time and hope the same thing does not happen again.

I never understand why falconers do this, but they do.

Anyway enough about the lure as that is a subject that deserves a chapter if not a book to itself.

The first day I flew this hybrid falcon, I only gave him two stoops to the lure and called him in for dinner. I know he could have done a lot more but it was my first day flying him and I like to take baby steps with the training. A baby step in the right direction is better than leaps and bounds in any other. So the next day I gave him six stoops at the lure and left it at that. Today he is up to about ten and now I can start getting him fit and shaping the behaviour I want from him in the air.

I want to fly this bird to the lure only for the foreseeable future. He doesn’t fly at any great height yet and hasn’t ranged out any distance, but it’s only his third day flying free with me and these are things that can be rectified with time. So all in all I am looking forward to flying him as he should be an interesting bird to train.

Tom.

It’s a small piece the kids done for childrens television, and please feel free to leave a comment on you tube,

thanks,  Tom

I do like watching them fly, although float may be a better word to describe their lazy energy saving style. When the Europeans went to America and saw the black and turkey vultures floating around the skies, they naturally enough, but wrongly, referred to them as buzzards. I used to love old western movies and for some strange reason, every time I see a buzzard now I always think of John Wayne or Slim Pickens, after shooting some human low-life in the gut, lean off his horse, gob up a mouthful of tobaccy and say something like; “That double-crossin’ no-good varmint, leave ‘im there in the sun for the God-damn buzzards.”

Sometimes I wonder if watching birds is affecting my mental balance!

A couple of days ago I was driving down the main road, chatting on the phone to a friend and had to stop all conversation as a merlin sped across in front of the jeep, flipped over a sheep fence and I watched as it accelerated to turbo velocity across the field. I watch it as it disappeared out of sight.

Only then did I look back at the road.

Feckin’ birds, they’ll be the death of me yet!

Tom

Different people have different ideas of what dog makes the perfect hunter’s companion. For some it’s the hyper-active Springer, a dog that just doesn’t let up and leaves no bush unturned. For others it’s the new world Labrador, a true gunner’s dog and a specialist retriever and if given a chance can be a good all-round hunter too. Many breeds that have been excellent hunters, finders and retrievers of game have sadly disappeared or become so rare in the field that they no more get a mention in working dog tales; Poodles come to mind, once thought to be the smartest of all working breeds, and the King Charles Spaniel, a small French breed, probably (and this is only my opinion) used in French falconry as the sparrow-hawkers companion. The reason I believe this is not only was this breed, (like so many so called gundogs) in existence long before the invention of the shotgun, but why else have such a small falconry spaniel in the field unless it was for use with sparrow-hawks or maybe with Hobbies or Merlins. Sussex and Clumber spaniels too have slipped by the way-side in the popularity steaks of the hunters four legged pal. Both these spaniel breeds were bred, I believe, to be purposely slow and ponderous for the simple reason that a man can keep up with them in the field, not just any man, but a man with a goshawk on his fist. If you have ever seen a team of Goshawk and fast spaniel work together you will understand the problems involved in keeping up when the brakes just don’t work!

Anyway, other folk prefer the Pointer or Setter, or English Pointer or Setters as they are know both in Ireland and in the UK, but these dogs are originally of French and Spanish origin and should still be in what has come to be known as the Hunt, Point and Retrieve group of dogs. But these two have been bred as total specialists as breeders have concentrated on only the Point aspect of their skills which is a shame. The Europeans though have what is (in my opinion again) the right idea. Most dogs in this group are what it says on the tin; Hunters, Pointers and Retrievers; from German Shorthaired Pointers to Munsterlanders, beautiful Hungarian Vizlas to ghost-like Weimeraners, the bulky Italian Spinones to the strong and elegant pointing Griffons.

Yes, I purposely left the little guy ‘til last; the small hardworking French Brittany Spaniel, or Brittany as it is called now. (the Spaniel was dropped as it is such a good pointer.)

When I was growing up I had my heart set on two things; a good dog and a good hawk. The hawk, as far as I can remember was going to be the old traditional Goshawk, filler of pots and slayer of all things edible. The dog though was either a Hungarian Vizla or a Brittany. Now as I write this, and after flying different Goshawks and owning a Brittany for twelve good years, I reckon it will be the Brittany all the way for me. Never in my life of owning different types of dogs have I had or seen such an easy-going and hard-working dog to spend time with. As a pointer (and I am no expert) I have had my dog on point for three quarters of an hour on pheasant, while my buddy searched and retrieved his Goshawk and returned for a second flight. After flying different hawks and falcons over the year’s at all different types of quarry, I can honestly put my hand on what’s left of my heart and say that there were many, many days that would have been a total blank if it were not for my old Brittany, he found game in the unlikeliest of places and at the least likeliest of times. He made the good days good and if there were really bad days (thankfully these don’t stick in the memory like the good ones) he was never to blame.

Brittanies are small for a pointing breed and will not cover the heather moors like an elegant Pointer or Setter, but for a dog to throw in the car when you are out with a Harris hawk one day, a Spar the next and a companion for that week away with the falcons, a dog that absolutely suits the Irish falconer or rough-shooter, a dog to lie in the garden and keep out of the way until he is needed, my money is on the Brittany.

As I said earlier, every man has his own choice of canine hunting companion and that’s the way it should be. It leads to a life of variety which is always a good thing. Once the sun shines occasionally and we can head for the fields with a dog at our heels life will never be too bad.

Tom

Ps. above photos are my six week old litter, all little characters and all trouble!

I just happened to be out exercising a falcon some weeks back, when I noticed someone watching me from a distance. After the bird had flown and was back up and feeding on the fist, the person approached and commented on how graceful the bird was, and what a pleasure it was to see him being put through his paces.  

The sun shone on both events and you would not have seen such an array of cameras and lenses at a Paris fashion show.  My female harris hawk stole the show as usual, flying over the crowd and catching her pretend bunny pulled by a child that tried to outrun a hunting hawk!

Everyone enjoyed handling the hawks and having their pictures taken, so I think all went away happy after their day with the birds of prey. All in all a very good atmosphere and a couple of very enjoyable days.

Tom