Book on flying passage Merlins?

[PeteJ]

I've had similar results with imprint female Merlins on Teal. They chase them but don't seem to want to grab them. I'm sure they could be convinced if you did it properly. The problem would be finding a suitable bag to simulate it for them. Teal are pretty hard to come by from captive populations. Also, I'm not really sure the flight would be that interesting. A Merlin would catch a Teal pretty quickly and easily if they wanted them.

[continentalanatum]

That's very true Ricardo. You mention Tom Gleason's articles and those are terrific discussion about what flying a merlin can be and the benefit of an open approach to interacting with merlins in the field. Pete's 1980's articles about imprint Richardson's (and pigeons) are also in that vein of creativity. The southern CA merlin mafia falconers have been doing things their way for a long time (jacks!) and certainly have a unique insight. The ubiquitous distribution of the merlin has produced master merlin falconers in all corners of the Americas and I think while similar, not everyone is flying their birds exactly "the same", not even close - and that's a great tribute to the species.

Friends,

I`m totally agree with Bill Barbour, Jeremy Roselle and Tanner Schaub! I`m starting to think that we are members of the Merlin Mafia (Cool term!) and I haven`t idea when I joined you! But it is my pleasure and as Tanner says, there`s little written in this branch of falconry and I strongly believe that there are more falconers doing their best for achieve good results and great success with merlins in the Americas.
Craig Shanholtzer recently told me that he once had a real serious slip to some kind of teal with his trained merlin and that`s awesome definitely but I guess it`s an ocassional thing, maybe a little bit difficult to maintain in a real basis...The real thing is that merlins have tremendous courage and confidence for reach many challenges in falconry conditions.
Big Jer and Benji have tremendous fun and good hunting with their tremendous merlins performance...I wonder what is coming up next?
One thing is truth...I strongly recomend to all of you this coming new book! It will be a magnificent work for all american falconers!
I`m so happy!

[christopher.vly]

I've had similar results with imprint female Merlins on Teal. They chase them but don't seem to want to grab them. I'm sure they could be convinced if you did it properly. The problem would be finding a suitable bag to simulate it for them. Teal are pretty hard to come by from captive populations. Also, I'm not really sure the flight would be that interesting. A Merlin would catch a Teal pretty quickly and easily if they wanted them.

Call Ducks?

[GONEHAWKN]

Ricardo your killing me!!!!! I am looking forward to it!

[PeteJ]

Call Ducks?

All the call ducks I've ever seen were sort of the next size up from Teal, not quite Wood Duck sized, but definitely bigger than Teal. I think our native Teal species are probably at the upper end of what a Merlin would take, so anything much bigger they'd really have to want it bad and if you're just entering them you have to be pretty careful to not put them off from the beginning. The one thing about ducks is, they 'appear' bigger than they really are, and its the interpreted size that can put off a naive falcon. Perhaps putting a prosthetic neck/head on a small pigeon would be the way to go for this purpose?

[tumble]

Perhaps putting a prosthetic neck/head on a small pigeon would be the way to go for this purpose?

Pitch it to one of the suppliers, Pete.

[Tony James]

Ricardo your killing me!!!!! I am looking forward to it!

Hi Bill,

I'm lucky enough to have had a sneak preview of some of what you'll see in this new book, and I'm sure it will offer exactly what so many are looking forward to.
Much of what already exists, relating to merlins in falconry's literature is great --- if you happen to live in particular areas of England where lark hawking is possible. Of course, only a handful of falconers do, whereas there are a good number of falconers around the world (particularly in the US) who are looking to use merlins in different ways and at different quarries.
Merlins offer such magical possibilities, beyond what I know, and I think this new book, with its insight from a variety of dedicated merlin enthusiasts, will inspire others to explore some of those possibilities.

Best wishes,

Tony.

[PeteJ]

Pitch it to one of the suppliers, Pete.

I knew that paper mache training in my early youth would come in more handy than Algebra!

[GONEHAWKN]

Thanks for rubbing it in a little Tony

[BigJerHoods]

Tony I think you are referring to David Frank's book.

[Tony James]

Tony I think you are referring to David Frank's book.

That's right Jeremy, and I think I'm right in suggesting it's not far from being published.
I hope it's well received and fills some of the gaping holes in our merlin literature.

Best wishes,

Tony.

[ericedw]

The book in the works from Western Sporting, "The Complete Merlin" has turned into quite an extensive work on the merlin. I'm certainly proud to be part of it and have a chapter in it. I've seen parts of it and it's just fantastic, with 30 original paintings by David Digby, Natural History by Robin Radcliffe, chapters on merlin falconry in Great Britain, Russia, India, South Africa and the U.S. in chapters by Tony James, John Loft, Grant Hagger, Hans Peeters, Tim Gallagher, Ken Tuttle, Tony Huston, myself and many others.

My chapter is mostly an expansion of the info on my merlinfalconry.com website.

I'm sure it will be a fantastic book and I hope they get it out soon.

As far as the other books mentioned in this thread, each has good information for different situations, take from each what makes sense to you.

As far as the Coulson's work, I don't know falconers more skilled or successful than the Coulson's. I've seen their merlins fly and it's hard to argue with success. I appreciate them sharing their experiences and knowledge and although I manage and fly merlins differently in some ways I know they have been very successful with merlins.

[gratefool1]

Tony,
I love your pic of the little 'un one the bigwheel! I hope you have that one blown up on the wall somewhere.
Good news about the book. Hopefully it won't be the prolonged wait that so many others have turned into.
Cheers!

[gratefool1]

The book in the works from Western Sporting, "The Complete Merlin" has turned into quite an extensive work on the merlin. I'm certainly proud to be part of it and have a chapter in it. I've seen parts of it and it's just fantastic, with 30 original paintings by David Digby, Natural History by Robin Radcliffe, chapters on merlin falconry in Great Britain, Russia, India, South Africa and the U.S. in chapters by Tony James, John Loft, Grant Hagger, Hans Peeters, Tim Gallagher, Ken Tuttle, Tony Huston, myself and many others.

My chapter is mostly an expansion of the info on my merlinfalconry.com website.

I'm sure it will be a fantastic book and I hope they get it out soon.

As far as the other books mentioned in this thread, each has good information for different situations, take from each what makes sense to you.

As far as the Coulson's work, I don't know falconers more skilled or successful than the Coulson's. I've seen their merlins fly and it's hard to argue with success. I appreciate them sharing their experiences and knowledge and although I manage and fly merlins differently in some ways I know they have been very successful with merlins.

Awesome! Okay, silly to ask, but do you think it will be out before next season?

[ericedw]

Awesome! Okay, silly to ask, but do you think it will be out before next season?

Well, I thought it would be out 5 seasons ago so I better not speculate

I sure hope so, last I heard from the main editors was in November and it sounded like they were wrapping up lose ends. I'll see if David has a projected date.

[continentalanatum]

Ben and friends,

I guess we merlin falconers will be full of good general information, magnificent tips and paraphernalia and especially an incredible recopilation of data and grand experience with passage merlins in a unique work. More merlin falconry for North American falconers!
The book that I told you is not the book of David Frank (that sounds great as Eric says) but another great book from a great falconer!
For logical reasons,I have prohibited to talk about it...It will rock you!...We will be honored to see it. Best regards to all of you merlin mafia! All of us are fortunate!

[GONEHAWKN]

Alright, I have seen this "Merlin Mafia" term thrown around enough at this point that i think T-shirts or something should made up!!! I was chatting with Redtail71 about it today while preparing to fly my girl. Oh, good flights today, it just wasnt our day. And I am sure I will snap up both of these books when they come out!

[bluejack]

Merlin mafia?

Sort of begs the question doesn't it?

[continentalanatum]

Yeahh!

A good shirt will be great for the merlin mafia...Let me see what can we do down here and I tell you Ben...So, best regards for you Keith!

[GONEHAWKN]

anyone have ANY info on ANY of the books-to-be spoken of here?

[joekoz]

anyone have ANY info on ANY of the books-to-be spoken of here?

And where does one go to purchase a "MERLIN MAFIA" T-Shirt?

[coopershawk]

Some news on these books would be great. Tantalizing hints, but no concrete facts.

[Venomlust]

I can't help but picture an Al Capone lookalike, pin striped suit, cigar in mouth and merlin on a gauntlet adorned fist. Other hand reaching under his jacket... for a tidbit, of course.

[continentalanatum]

Friends,
The only concrete thing that I know about the new book on passage merlins is that it´s a great work, many of us were waiting during decades for something like this.
A complete guide (Yes, I said complete! This is true!), great photos, super detailed and completely made for the american falconer.
The wait is almost reaching it´s deadline...Summer is in the air...Many of us can start our hawking season with a great work!!!...Men!...If you could wait for decades...Can you wait for some more days?
Best regards to Merlin Mafia.

[cvarcher]

Ive trapped several passage Columbarious on Fire Island, NY. Back in the day I didnt have telemetry and just finishing working with passage kestrels as an apprentice I didnt want to lose a bird so I dedicated them to just lure flying. The main key I found that helped in the management is to house your bird with a warm house temp environment during the winter . By controlling the metabalism and doing 2-5 gram scale readings you can fine tune the bird for optimal performance. Mine never carried and was wedded to my lure .One time a cooper came after my bird and she took off. I waited and waited all the while blowing the whistle and swinging the lure . About 8 minutes later she slammed the lure hanging from behind me. I think her trapped weight was 240gms and she flew 188grams .Once you show them live birds to kill they never fly the lure with the same tight ability. And hooding was a very necessary thing.

[continentalanatum]

Corrado,

Thanks for share your experience...I strongly believe that if you got the right control on your merlin, suddenly one day,the trust appears from nowhere and you can achieve the very best of hawking with this precious falcon...And telemetry can be not necessary. But in these days, telemetry it´s simply a must.
I started flying merlins back in 1996 without it and never happened a bad episode but just this past april my tiercel flew away with the transmitter...This is falconry! Regards.

[dcowan]

I've flow just two merlins, and I believe I received the most useful information for starting out from Eric Edward's website
http://merlinfalconry.com

[GONEHAWKN]

Hi ya Dan....Eric's sight was certainly a big help to me as well....will you be flying another Merlin this season? I will be leaving around the 17th to hopefully trap me a new charge.

[dcowan]

We're headed to Cape May the first week of October, looking for another Merlin!

[GONEHAWKN]

Good luck to ya Dan!.......site, not "sight" in my last post.....

[MikeMaxcy]

For those of you that can make it to southern cal this January for the CHC meet there will be many Merlin hawkers stomping the alfalfa fields.

[dcowan]

Hey Bill,
Don't you live near the Bay Bridge? We should be passing through there on October 1 on our way to the Lewes ferry over to Cape May. Maybe we can get together.

[GONEHAWKN]

Yes sir. Very close indeed....PM sent....