New member to forum

[parabuteo78]

Hi everyone,
just found this forum after a search and decided to join.
I'm a 28-year old female apprentice falconer from the Netherlands. I've been actively involved in falconry and birds of prey for four years now. I been wanting to be a falconer for as long as I can remember, just getting into it took some time [smilie=eusa_think.gif]
Last year, on the 4th of July of all days, I picked up my very first bird. A FHH, imported from the UK (Bad breeding year for Harrisses in Netherlands in 2006).
Her name is Chinook, which means as much as power of the wind, which I thought was appropriate! She flies at around 900 grams.
Chinook lives in 8x8x8 mews with a 39 foot flight attached to it with double door. Since two months she is actually allowed to fly free between the mews and the flight.
Manning and training of Chinook went very quickly, 19 days after I got her she was flying free (Could have been sooner, but I was dreading it!)
To this day, Chinook has been a joy to handle and fly, never once showing any aggression.
I have hunted Chinook the past season, we caught our fair share of game, a few highlights were a cock pheasant and several wood pigeons. Rabbits were a bit rare around here, but we had a few close calls with brown hares.
But, strangely enough, her favorite prey are brown rats. We have also caught a few of those. Luckily with no bites sustained, Chinook has quite powerful and sure feet.

I have always been quite envious of the Americans, with your superior licensing-system. I would love to trap and fly a passage Red. But I'm really happy with Chinook, too. Don't get me wrong.

I'll try and post some pics of Chinook in Photos section.
Everybody enjoy the off-season, counting the days and the moulted feathers!

[`Chris L.]

It is great to have falconers from over seas on this site. I know the site name is mis leading,but we welcome everyone that is a falconer here.

It sounds like you are doing well with your HH. I hope to hear some of your stories and see some of your pictures.

We have a grat group of people on here and we welcome apprenitces with open arms, so please dont hesitate to ask any questions you may have.

Oh yeah, dont forget to sign your real name to your posts. We like to know everyone by their real names on here. It helps keep the garbage off the site.

I look forward to reading your posts.


oh yeah, did you find it with google??? what made you decide to join this forum.. just wanting to know why people are attracted to the forums

[everetkhorton]

Welcome to the site. [smilie=banana.gif] I think [smilie=eusa_think.gif] but am not sure that you are the first lady to join the site or at least post a message. HH are great birds, they love to fly and use the wind. Please let us know how you fly your Harris in the Netherlands. I live in Michigan (the State that is shaped like a left hand mitten) if you look at a map of the U.S. Spring is on its way, it is 28 degree today with blowing snow. I have put my RT up for the year, squirrel season is over for me. I hope you enjoy the site. Like Chris said please sign your post.

[Andrew]

Hello!

[parabuteo78]

It is great to have falconers from over seas on this site. I know the site name is mis leading,but we welcome everyone that is a falconer here.

It sounds like you are doing well with your HH. I hope to hear some of your stories and see some of your pictures.

We have a grat group of people on here and we welcome apprenitces with open arms, so please dont hesitate to ask any questions you may have.

Oh yeah, dont forget to sign your real name to your posts. We like to know everyone by their real names on here. It helps keep the garbage off the site.

I look forward to reading your posts.
oh yeah, did you find it with google??? what made you decide to join this forum.. just wanting to know why people are attracted to the forums

Hi and thanks for the welcome. I changed my signature, so it now contains my real name which is Jo.
I have kept a very meticulous diary of Chinook's flying and hunting so should be able to put up some of her stories. I'll try and post some pics after this so everyone can see her. That's her eye in my avatar by the way.
I did find the site with google, yes. I did a search on Falconry forum. I found several forums, most of which I knew. This one I didn't know and I decided to have a look and I liked it. As I said I envy American falconers and love those passage Reds so when I saw plenty of Redtail pics and stories I joined.

I saw I made a mistake regarding Chinook's weight, she flies at about 950 grams not 900. Offcourse depending on the weather and the situation.

[parabuteo78]

Welcome to the site. [smilie=banana.gif] I think [smilie=eusa_think.gif] but am not sure that you are the first lady to join the site or at least post a message. HH are great birds, they love to fly and use the wind. Please let us know how you fly your Harris in the Netherlands. I live in Michigan (the State that is shaped like a left hand mitten) if you look at a map of the U.S. Spring is on its way, it is 28 degree today with blowing snow. I have put my RT up for the year, squirrel season is over for me. I hope you enjoy the site. Like Chris said please sign your post.

Thanks for the welcome!
O my, the first lady, eh? Well, let's hope the first of many. Falconry is still very much a man's sport, but there are some women who practice it.

As for flying Chinook, she has caught quarry both off the fist and following on. Though I'm trying to keep following on to a minimum, due to the risk of selfhunting. I want to create a strong, stable hunting relation with her first. That is, make her realise I'm part of the team, not a nuisance! So far she hasn't shown any tendency to self hunt and her hunting and response to glove and lure are excellent.
Chinook is not put up to moult yet and I may fly her through the moult. Not hunting but in clearance work among others.

[everetkhorton]

ChinooK
There are a lot of REAL good ladies practeing(spelling?) [smilie=eusa_doh.gif] falconry. Game is the name of the Game. If you put lots of game in front of your bird, they will not self hunt. When hunting sqrs. it is different unless you want to hunt your bird off the fist or out of the hood. It is hard to train a hawk to sit on the fist and walk through the wood and then when you see a sqr. put them up in the tree, they want to bate as soon as they get in the woods. My bird well see 90% of the sqrs. before I see them. So self hunting becomes a problem. You can have your post signed automaticly by going into the Profile sec. I think, I am not much of a computer person.

[parabuteo78]

ChinooK
There are a lot of REAL good ladies practeing(spelling?) [smilie=eusa_doh.gif] falconry. Game is the name of the Game. If you put lots of game in front of your bird, they will not self hunt. When hunting sqrs. it is different unless you want to hunt your bird off the fist or out of the hood. It is hard to train a hawk to sit on the fist and walk through the wood and then when you see a sqr. put them up in the tree, they want to bate as soon as they get in the woods. My bird well see 90% of the sqrs. before I see them. So self hunting becomes a problem. You can have your post signed automaticly by going into the Profile sec. I think, I am not much of a computer person.

I agree with your point. A hawk sitting in a tree will spot more game, quicker than I will. So to keep this to minimum, I have in the beginning hunted her from the fist. In the last part of the season however I allowed her to follow on more and we also did good.
Hunting Rabbits from the fist is not a problem, feathered quarry can be a problem when hunted from the fist. With birds and as you said with squirrels, the hawk will benefit from being high, this is how the pheasant was caught.

I figured out you have a tick a box when posting to put your signature in, so hopefully it will be there from now on.

[Wilfred]

I already asked this by PM but will ask it again her since i did not get a reply yet.

As Dutch falconer i wonder where you hunt with your harris hawk. Since in the Netherlands only hunting with a goshawk or a peregrine falcon is allowed. Hunting with a harris hawk is against the laws.

So you must hunt in another country. I am wondering which one. If it is in Germany you must have a German falconry license. So i suppose it is Belgium since I do not think you have any falconry license.