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!