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.

“The study of the art of falconry is considered a vital part of the education of a gentleman.” - George Turbervile 1611

Falconry; the art of hunting with a Bird Of Prey is an ancient art and the basics have changed little over the past couple of thousand years.

If you would like to learn falconry, either to broaden your knowledge on the subject or with a view to owning and flying a hawk of your own,

Please feel free to contact us.

On a woodlands falconry course you will learn the equivalent of the UK Lantra Award

Unit 1 Bird of Prey Management and Husbandry.

• Module 1 Housing

• Module 2 Hygiene

• Module 3 Feeding and food preparation

• Module 4 Health

• Module 5 Species suitability

• Module 6 Acquiring your first bird

Unit 2 Falconry Basics

• Module 7 Essential equipment

• Module 8 Picking up and carrying

• Module 9 Feeding, manning and initial training techniques

• Module 10 Weighing and weight management

• Module 11 Flying to the fist on a creance

Also covered on our courses:

The law and licensing

Theory of animal training / Behavioral shaping

]]> http://blog.woodlandsfalconry.com/training-courses/feed/