My old mate dropped in again today

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Thomas Covenant

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Just refilling the feeders when I heard a 'clunk' on the fence and turned to see old Harris sat there watching me afterwhich he proceeded to do a spot of preening and topping up his tan :)
Yet again I struggled to get him all in the frame and the light is very harsh at the moment and all that coupled with the idiot behind the camera eh !
Still, thought them worth sharing as it is an exciting and ,up until recently , an unusual garden visitor.
John

Could you put the sun tan lotion on please ??


IMG_2869pse Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr

Perhaps scratch behind my ear ????


IMG_2882pse Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr


A manicure perhaps ?


IMG_2880pse1 Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr



Oh, all right I'll just sit here then if thats all right by you ! Pass me one of those Greenfinches while you're there !


IMG_2875pse Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr
 
I get them in my garden all the time ;)
Looks like she has been feral for quite sometime, going on the state of her feet ;)

I see that she has bitten one set of aylmerii (anklets) off.
Looks like she is wearing bullet jesses too, that means that one is trailing. (as they are an attached pair)
She really needs catching up, other wise sooner or later, she will get tangled up in a tree.
And that as they say will be "that"

Nicely captured (y)
 
There was one of these sitting on a fence post down to road from me as i drove home this lunch time - it was also trailing one jess.

I wonder if its the same one ? (How far/fast would they fly normally - given that john is in north devon, and i'm on the south coast near sidmouth )
 
big soft moose said:
There was one of these sitting on a fence post down to road from me as i drove home this lunch time - it was also trailing one jess.

I wonder if its the same one ? (How far/fast would they fly normally - given that john is in north devon, and i'm on the south coast near sidmouth )
Click to expand...

Pete,
They can soon cover a far sized area, especially with a good breeze up its tail. But North to south in one day does seems a little extreme.

5/10 miles in a day would be about its limit, as they are rather "lazy" in their
hunting approach.
Preferring to sit and wait for an opportunity
 
So its probably not the same bird (depending on where john is ) - I'll keep an eye out for it if i see it again i'll give out local falconers a call to see if they can catch it up before the worst happens
 
You can always report it to the IBR they have a list of falconers on file,
that are prepared to go and catch up a feral.
And then trace the owner, (or keep it if the owner doesn't want it back, which happens quite a lot TBH)
 
Cobra said:
I get them in my garden all the time ;)
Looks like she has been feral for quite sometime, going on the state of her feet ;)

I see that she has bitten one set of aylmerii (anklets) off.
Looks like she is wearing bullet jesses too, that means that one is trailing. (as they are an attached pair)
She really needs catching up, other wise sooner or later, she will get tangled up in a tree.
And that as they say will be "that"

Nicely captured (y)
Click to expand...

big soft moose said:
There was one of these sitting on a fence post down to road from me as i drove home this lunch time - it was also trailing one jess.

I wonder if its the same one ? (How far/fast would they fly normally - given that john is in north devon, and i'm on the south coast near sidmouth )
Click to expand...

Cobra said:
Pete,
They can soon cover a far sized area, especially with a good breeze up its tail. But North to south in one day does seems a little extreme.

5/10 miles in a day would be about its limit, as they are rather "lazy" in their
hunting approach.
Preferring to sit and wait for an opportunity
Click to expand...

big soft moose said:
So its probably not the same bird (depending on where john is ) - I'll keep an eye out for it if i see it again i'll give out local falconers a call to see if they can catch it up before the worst happens
Click to expand...

Cobra said:
You can always report it to the IBR they have a list of falconers on file,
that are prepared to go and catch up a feral.
And then trace the owner, (or keep it if the owner doesn't want it back, which happens quite a lot TBH)
Click to expand...

Many thanks guys.
Pete, yours must be a different one as I am just outside Barnstaple and it is seen too regularly around here.
RKC (Bob) is contacting a mate who may be able to help and if not I will try the link you kindly gave Cobra.
I would hate for anything to happen to her .
Have just seen her again this morning and I will get a bit of meat in to make sure she doesn't starve though she must be making a living herself by now.
John
 
Thomas Covenant said:
Have just seen her again this morning and I will get a bit of meat in to make sure she doesn't starve though she must be making a living herself by now.
John
Click to expand...

No worries Thomas (y)
She's been living rough for quite awhile looking at the state of here feet,
so she is obviously making a living for herself.
They eat carrion as well as live prey.
So she shouldn't starve at least .
 
Really liking these John.

Makes the starlings I get in my garden look pretty boring.
 
Cobra said:
No worries Thomas (y)
She's been living rough for quite awhile looking at the state of here feet,
so she is obviously making a living for herself.
They eat carrion as well as live prey.
So she shouldn't starve at least .
Click to expand...

4737carlin said:
What an amazing looking bird!!! i seen 5 buzzards the other day in North Wales but failed to get a shot of any of them!
Click to expand...

Bigvin said:
Really liking these John.

Makes the starlings I get in my garden look pretty boring.
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone.
I have just given a birder mate of mine a shout as she has been in the garden again for a while this evening and I even got her to eat some meat just in case she was a bit peckish and she took it quite happily. She then proceeded down to the stream at the bottom of my garden for a drink and may well be roosting in the trees all along it.
At least I know she's eaten something today.

John
 
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Finally got hold of mate today, he has recovered it for the owner before, it has been in the wild for approx 6 weeks so is obviously feeding I would have thought. As soon as John gets in contact I shall pass over the details and hopefully get it returned to the owner
 
RKC said:
Finally got hold of mate today, he has recovered it for the owner before, it has been in the wild for approx 6 weeks so is obviously feeding I would have thought. As soon as John gets in contact I shall pass over the details and hopefully get it returned to the owner
Click to expand...

As I said above they will eat almost anything (flesh wise)
Inc. worms beetles etc.
It would have been dead in about a week had it not been eating.

Hopefully he'll catch it up (again) with a tasty morsel :)
But some Falconers, (Austringer in this case.)
Really do need to "smarten their acts up" ;)
Its things like this that really do us no favours at all :(
 
Cobra said:
As I said above they will eat almost anything (flesh wise)
Inc. worms beetles etc.
It would have been dead in about a week had it not been eating.

Hopefully he'll catch it up (again) with a tasty morsel :)
But some Falconers, (Austringer in this case.)
Really do need to "smarten their acts up" ;)
Its things like this that really do us no favours at all :(
Click to expand...

Austringer is that not a keeper of Goshawks (had to look that word up :D)

Know what you mean about doing you no favours Chris, it was all over the local rag last time it got loose which was not very long ago :cautious:
 
RKC said:
Austringer is that not a keeper of Goshawks (had to look that word up :D)
Click to expand...

Bob,
A falconer fly's longwings
(colloquially called falcons, which is in fact a female Peregrine).

An Austringer flys hawks (broad wings) per se' Although a gos hawk is actually an Accipiter
(Latin for "true hawk" I beleive.)

Gos's and Sparrow-hawks are the only 2 that fall into this category.
Having said that a flyer of Sparrow hawks is actually called a "sparvitor"
Complicated aint it? :LOL:

 
Cobra said:
Bob,
A falconer fly's longwings
(colloquially called falcons, which is in fact a female Peregrine).

An Austringer flys hawks (broad wings) per se' Although a gos hawk is actually an Accipiter
(Latin for "true hawk" I beleive.)

Gos's and Sparrow-hawks are the only 2 that fall into this category.
Having said that a flyer of Sparrow hawks is actually called a "sparvitor"
Complicated aint it? :LOL:
Click to expand...

:wave::LOL:
 
what do you call someone who flys the genus Buteo (buzzards, hobbies etc) or the genus milvus (kites etc)

also what about owls ?
 
big soft moose said:
what do you call someone who flys the genus Buteo (buzzards, hobbies etc) or the genus milvus (kites etc)

also what about owls ?
Click to expand...

Buzzards are in the broadwing category, where as the hobby is a longwing (falco subbuteo), as for kites and owls, they are useless for hunting so are purely a display bird.
 
yeah but kites, owls, secretary birds, vultures ec are still flown - all be it only for display purposes - so my querry for chris was what the technical name is for someone who flies that type of raptor
 
RKC said:
:wave::LOL:
Click to expand...

:LOL::LOL::LOL:
big soft moose said:
what do you call someone who flys the genus Buteo (buzzards, hobbies etc) or the genus milvus (kites etc)

also what about owls ?
Click to expand...

Gary has got the others ;)

Kites are broad wings and the "flyer" would be called an Austringer.
However as Gary said they are not used for hunting, and the true definition
of a falconer is someone that hunts natural quarry in its own environment
with a diurnal bird of prey.

These terms go back hundreds of years,
Owls have only been flown for a very short time in the scheme of things,
and are called (albeit incorrectly) falconers,
as the word became bastidized in more recent times.
Generally as they are display birds, they tend to refer to themselves as "display falconers" or "owl keepers"





big soft moose said:
yeah but kites, owls, secretary birds, vultures ec are still flown - all be it only for display purposes - so my querry for chris was what the technical name is for someone who flies that type of raptor
Click to expand...

And the short answer to that is "display falconer"
 
Or having seen and heard many display falconers, there are a few I'd call them something else, but may break the swear filter lol
 
Nice shots John (y) it was good to chat with you yesterday (y) has she returned today ?

Still amused by the look on the Greenfinch face though :)
 
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2slo said:
Excellent series and an interesting read.
Click to expand...

Cheers Mark. I've certainly learned something from it I must say.

RKC said:
Nice shots John (y) it was good to chat with you yesterday (y) has she returned today ?

Still amused by the look on the Greenfinch face though :)
Click to expand...

:) Not sure the Greenfinch appreciated the attention :crying:
Seriously though, it would have been cat bait if the Harris hadn't spotted it and it would have had a much quicker end in comparison to a cat playing with it.
Yep, I am working down at the bottom of the garden and she has been watching me wondering what I was up to from a branch above my head but again eluded capture when the guys arrived and seems to know every trick in the book and some in order to stay free!

John
 
Excellent ! :)
She has obviously taken a shine to you and your garden.
Looking at the second set of images, (nicely done BTW)
it seems that she wasn't wearing bullet jesses after all,
and is just wearing the traditional type, which is good news in some ways, as she is less likely to
get caught up.

If you want to take your relationship to the next level, you can provide her
with a bath, yes they do love one!
You just need something shallow, 2-4 ins deep but at least 18ins across,
traditional falconry baths are not cheap, but a flowerpot base or plastic bin lid, as long as it can be made stable, will work just as well.

 
Cobra said:
Excellent ! :)
She has obviously taken a shine to you and your garden.
Looking at the second set of images, (nicely done BTW)
it seems that she wasn't wearing bullet jesses after all,
and is just wearing the traditional type, which is good news in some ways, as she is less likely to
get caught up.

If you want to take your relationship to the next level, you can provide her
with a bath, yes they do love one!
You just need something shallow, 2-4 ins deep but at least 18ins across,
traditional falconry baths are not cheap, but a flowerpot base or plastic bin lid, as long as it can be made stable, will work just as well.
Click to expand...


Cheers Cobra.

She has the stream at the bottom of my garden where she performs her ablutions and drinks so not sure if it is worth offering her something 'en suite'
as it were ;) :shrug:
I wish I could have got her on video watching me digging this morning , she did make me laugh.

John
 
Thomas Covenant said:
Cheers Cobra.

She has the stream at the bottom of my garden where she performs her ablutions and drinks so not sure if it is worth offering her something 'en suite'
as it were ;) :shrug:

John
Click to expand...

Ah Ok, no worries not everyone is as fortunate as you (y)
That'll do her just fine :)
 
Thomas Covenant said:
again eluded capture when the guys arrived and seems to know every trick in the book and some in order to stay free!
John
Click to expand...

:LOL::LOL: Chris will give me some choice words when I see him :D

You may well have a lodger then ;)
 

I've recovered a fair few in my time,
so I know its not easy, one little git took me 5 days,
You just need the right bait, and lots of it, once they bind to it,
and tendon lock, they are going nowhere, and you are laughing.

Chicken (whole and not plucked)
Rabbit paunched but not gutted.
Etc etc.

Tied to a line and you out of sight.
But you will need to tease her with it by jiggling the line.
But don't make a move until you see that she has "tendon locked"
or she will be off like greased lightning,
if you give the "bait" a little twitch when she hits it,
she will automatically tendon lock, she won't be able to help her self.
As she will think that its still alive.
:D

Fresh and bloody, fresh and bloody :)
 
A good read John and some great pics (y) Chris or Bob, after reading a little about keeping Bop`s it seems that Buzzards are not at the top of the list and and I have seen quite a few comments about them being lazy when it comes to hunting, and a few comments advising people not to keep them at all. It also got me thinking a little more about the subject, I assume that any bird will form a bond with its keeper, part interaction on a human level and partly knowing where it will get food from. I understand about keeping birds at certain weights for flying and keeping them in top condition, but is part of that not also to keep them interested enough to return to you as well? I see it was mentioned this bird had been captured before, is this just one of those birds with it`s own strong will to head to the hills or does blame rest on the shoulders of the owner? Are certain species more reliable than others to fly or is it always on the back of your mind each time you let a bird off it could be the last time you see it?
 
Cobra said:
Ah Ok, no worries not everyone is as fortunate as you (y)
That'll do her just fine :)
Click to expand...

I am very lucky there Cobra as you say and have seen all sorts down there including Otters and a Stoat both of which took my breath away but only had the camera in hand for the Stoat.

RKC said:
:LOL::LOL: Chris will give me some choice words when I see him :D

You may well have a lodger then ;)
Click to expand...

:D Hmmmmm. Yep ! The choice words are flowing quite nicely here too already :)

Cobra said:

I've recovered a fair few in my time,
so I know its not easy, one little git took me 5 days,
You just need the right bait, and lots of it, once they bind to it,
and tendon lock, they are going nowhere, and you are laughing.

Chicken (whole and not plucked)
Rabbit paunched but not gutted.
Etc etc.

Tied to a line and you out of sight.
But you will need to tease her with it by jiggling the line.
But don't make a move until you see that she has "tendon locked"
or she will be off like greased lightning,
if you give the "bait" a little twitch when she hits it,
she will automatically tendon lock, she won't be able to help her self.
As she will think that its still alive.
:D

Fresh and bloody, fresh and bloody :)
Click to expand...

Cheers Cobra. She does seem to have the upper hand at the minute ;)

ladysue said:
Great story and some lovely photos. She sounds a real character.Glad you are looking after her.
Click to expand...

Character she certainly is and I will be sorry to see her go but I fear for her safety with the trailing jesse and the fact that I live only a couple of miles from the Fortescue Estate which hosts a large pheasant / partridge shoot where she would be less than welcome as a visitor.

u8myufo said:
A good read John and some great pics (y) Chris or Bob, after reading a little about keeping Bop`s it seems that Buzzards are not at the top of the list and and I have seen quite a few comments about them being lazy when it comes to hunting, and a few comments advising people not to keep them at all. It also got me thinking a little more about the subject, I assume that any bird will form a bond with its keeper, part interaction on a human level and partly knowing where it will get food from. I understand about keeping birds at certain weights for flying and keeping them in top condition, but is part of that not also to keep them interested enough to return to you as well? I see it was mentioned this bird had been captured before, is this just one of those birds with it`s own strong will to head to the hills or does blame rest on the shoulders of the owner? Are certain species more reliable than others to fly or is it always on the back of your mind each time you let a bird off it could be the last time you see it?
Click to expand...

Cheers Rich and love your latest Buzzard pics which are gorgeous sir.
Its a good point and I will ask Chris the handler trying to catch her his thoughts. He flies Goshawks and I would like to get a few pics of them too.

Here she is sunbathing again and eyeing up brunch which was the unfortunate Greenfinch. I think the Greeny was recovering from a failed attack by our local Sparrowhawk but this time its luck ran out .

IMG_2975psePFc1a_1280 Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr


IMG_2983psePFc1a_1280 Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr

John
 
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u8myufo said:
A good read John and some great pics (y) Chris or Bob, after reading a little about keeping Bop`s it seems that Buzzards are not at the top of the list and and I have seen quite a few comments about them being lazy when it comes to hunting, and a few comments advising people not to keep them at all. It also got me thinking a little more about the subject, I assume that any bird will form a bond with its keeper, part interaction on a human level and partly knowing where it will get food from. I understand about keeping birds at certain weights for flying and keeping them in top condition, but is part of that not also to keep them interested enough to return to you as well? I see it was mentioned this bird had been captured before, is this just one of those birds with it`s own strong will to head to the hills or does blame rest on the shoulders of the owner? Are certain species more reliable than others to fly or is it always on the back of your mind each time you let a bird off it could be the last time you see it?
Click to expand...


Correct buzzards are generally a scavenger, only ever really taking mice and rats, they can still be flown just as flying bird, but yes very difficult to get hunting, also if hand reared can be aggressive towards people.
depending on how the bird is raised depends on the bond, hand raised then it sees you as he same species, so can form that strong bond, my male Harris will jump at my feet and pull my shoe laces he's that bonded with me, with parent reared birds, its more a trust, knowing you are not a threat, and in time food obviously plays a part.
As for weights, that's the most important thing with flying birds, to high in weight, they won't be interested in coming to you for food, to low in weight and they have no energy to fly, also health issues if they go to low in weight.
as for this bird, its difficult to say, sometimes they chase things over a river, round the back of a wood and just out of sight, Harris's tend not to go to far though, but that's why telemetry is used for such moments. Another reason is flying at to high a weight and just does not want to come back, so in that case its the owners fault, also if no telemetry, then its definitely the owners fault.
my hawks fly with 1 transmitter, my falcon with 2, if I only have to use them once then they have earned the money back that I paid for them.
 
Thomas Covenant said:
I am very lucky there Cobra as you say and have seen all sorts down there including Otters and a Stoat both of which took my breath away but only had the camera in hand for the Stoat.



:D Hmmmmm. Yep ! The choice words are flowing quite nicely here too already :)



Cheers Cobra. She does seem to have the upper hand at the minute ;)



Character she certainly is and I will be sorry to see her go but I fear for her safety with the trailing jesse and the fact that I live only a couple of miles from the Fortescue Estate which hosts a large pheasant / partridge shoot where she would be less than welcome as a visitor.



Cheers Rich and love your latest Buzzard pics which are gorgeous sir.
Its a good point and I will ask Chris the handler trying to catch her his thoughts. He flies Goshawks and I would like to get a few pics of them too.

Here she is sunbathing again and eyeing up brunch which was the unfortunate Greenfinch. I think the Greeny was recovering from a failed attack by our local Sparrowhawk but this time its luck ran out .

IMG_2975psePFc1a_1280 Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr


IMG_2983psePFc1a_1280 Harris Hawk by Thomas Covenant, on Flickr

John
Click to expand...

Thanks John, love that one of Her chilling out :LOL: Please keep us updated if possible (y)
nikongaz said:
Correct buzzards are generally a scavenger, only ever really taking mice and rats, they can still be flown just as flying bird, but yes very difficult to get hunting, also if hand reared can be aggressive towards people.
depending on how the bird is raised depends on the bond, hand raised then it sees you as he same species, so can form that strong bond, my male Harris will jump at my feet and pull my shoe laces he's that bonded with me, with parent reared birds, its more a trust, knowing you are not a threat, and in time food obviously plays a part.
As for weights, that's the most important thing with flying birds, to high in weight, they won't be interested in coming to you for food, to low in weight and they have no energy to fly, also health issues if they go to low in weight.
as for this bird, its difficult to say, sometimes they chase things over a river, round the back of a wood and just out of sight, Harris's tend not to go to far though, but that's why telemetry is used for such moments. Another reason is flying at to high a weight and just does not want to come back, so in that case its the owners fault, also if no telemetry, then its definitely the owners fault.
my hawks fly with 1 transmitter, my falcon with 2, if I only have to use them once then they have earned the money back that I paid for them.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gary for the info (y)
 
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