Hello

[rwd]

I suppose I should introduce myself.
My name's Reid, I live in Oregon, and I love hunting. I have always loved hawks, but didn't even know falconry existed until I stumbled across it mentioned in a bird book 4 years ago.
It was a long wait, but I got my license in January. Trapped a female Kestrel last month, and she is coming along well. My sponsor recommended this forum, as there seems to be a lot of people who fly/have flown kestrels here.

[wesleyc6]

Hi Reid,
Great to have you here. Yes, there are quite a few guys/gals on here that have flown kestrels. We look forward to your stories! Who is your sponsor if you don't mind sharing?

Again, welcome. Please go to your user cp and add your name to your signature. Just the way we do things on here. Hope you understand.:D

[rwd]

My sponsor is Richard Hoyer.

[kimmerar]

(welc) Reid. I'm flying my second kestrel right now. I just upgraded to general last month. I've posted a few stories here myself on my kbirds. Can't wait to read some of yours.

[FredFogg]

Reid, Welcome to the Forum! I have flown a couple Ak, love them, they are a lot of fun. If I may ask, why did you choose the AK as a first falconry bird and not take a red-tail? Just wondering! AK as a first bird can be a little tricky and to be honest, you learn a lot about handling a bird from a red-tail that you won't from a kestrel. Let's face it, if you mess up and a kestrel foots you, it hurts a lot less than a red-tail! LOL Good luck with your kestrel and if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. Oh yeah, has your sponser flown a kestrel? It helps to have someone close by that has that experience.

[rwd]

I chose the kes for a few reasons:
I live in town. It's a small city but it's about 7 miles to the nearest rabbit grounds. When I read that Kestrels can be hunted in some places in town after starlings and such, that did a lot to influence my choice.

As for weight control, I was told it was just a matter of careful observation and math. I'm sure it'll change when I start hunting, but weight control during training thusfar has been a lot easier than it was made out to be. Maybe thats because I have nothing to compare it to. And yes, my sponsor has flown a kestrel.


I want to fly a small accipiter or merlin some day, so a kestrel seemed the natural place to start in terms of practicing weight control and anti-carrying.

Of course, I intend to fly a redtail sometime before my apprenticeship is up.