Over a year - a long story

I was in a funk.  Yes, it is true.  Losing Gonzo was the single biggest loss of my falconry career.  I got angry and sad, then determined.  I went out looking for new birds.  I was going to get Tess a possible mate.

No, she has never shown much interest in mating, I'll get two.

I don't have that kind of money.

Then I hear that for breeding, you should really just keep the birds together.

So then - what do I fly??

Will I fly Tess solo?  I have before.

... and I caved.

I acquired a mature male, and a female breeder from up north. In the process, I picked up another juvi male to fly with Tess.

Three birds over the course of a summer - very cool.

I reworked my weathering areas to be sure to minimize racoon impact, I covered all my "natural" perches in long leaf astroturf.

And my new female laid her first egg on the way home in the giant hood.  Crap. crap. crap

I didn't have an appropriate incubator yet, but I did have my cheap styrofoam chicken hatcher.  It would have to do. I didn't know anything. 
Was the egg fertile?  It was laid in the hood on the drive home from Pennsylvania, what are the chances it would hatch after rolling around on the car ride home.

The female was in a chamber full of its own offspring?  Would the parents have been breeding?  What are the chances it would hatch?  Shoot - it's the middle of summer, why is she laying now?.,,

I put the egg in the incubator with little hope.  I hand turned it multiple times a day.  Hoping - not hoping - scared to hope.

I tried to put a chicken egg out with the momma - to see if she would set.  She was in a new environment, and not interested.

The egg hatched.

This was last fall. 

The chick seemed happy and healthy - I hand fed it for the first few months.  I did not know at the time that she wasn't right.  I fostered her out to Jimmy in Georgia.  I still can't thank him enough for all he did for my first "baby".

Soon after returning too me she died.  Not being sure what happened, I had a necropsy done.  She hadn't grown right.  Her spine was curved and her hips were wrong.  Her lungs were underdeveloped, and her brain smaller than expected.

It could be traced back to poor incubation.

My year continued to suck. 

I trained my new male to hunt.  He flew at the same weight a Gonzo, 650 (plus or minus).  First on his own, then with Tess. His name is Boomer.

I compared hime to Gonzo ( I shouldn't have, not yet)

It was a rebuilding year.  I was shorter on time, and went away for two weeks in the middle of the season.  It was less than stellar.  Game was caught and flights were interesting.  We all learned a lot.

It was a rebuilding year.  This year should be interesting.

The newest egg hatched in June.  A female, it stormed for weeks and weeks after she was born.

So my daughter named her Rain.  She is 17 weeks and ready to start training.  Boomer is slowly starting to drop weight. Trapping season is just around the corner and there is so much to do. and everything is hitting at once.

I'll try and keep my writing caught up.

aaarrrgh - makes me mad

State's Only Breeding Goshawk, Chicks Found Dead

GRANTSVILLE, Md. -- The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said the state's only known breeding female northern goshawk, a bird of prey, was shot and killed in Grantsville last week.A DNR biologist said the remains of a female northern goshawk were found last Friday in the Savage River State Forest near Westernport and McAndrews Hill roads, and evidence indicated that the animal was shot and killed, leaving three orphaned chicks in the nest to die.

Read more: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/28314568/detail.html#ixzz1Q0AP33Mi

Bad news Good news

Gonzo's talon did not heal correctly. Even though we wrapped it, then splinted it. It still was pulling to the left an alarming amount, and the toe was starting to swell.

Obviously, my doctoring didn't work.

I loaded the bird into the car and took him to Raleigh to see Arnaud. He is a vet at the college there and specializes in raptors - and he is just a great guy.

I held Gonzo on the kitchen table while Arnaud took a good look - the prognosis wasn't great.

The middle toe had a severed tendon on one side, leaving an imbalance in the amount of tension on the other side of the toe, so it was like the tip was being pulled on one side by a rubber band.

He reset the toe - using some thick, plastic tubing and gauze and duct tape. It looks like it might work. The toe is currently straight, and should heal that way.

He has lost the use of the tip of that toe - I can't get around that - but being that it is the center talon - he should still be able to hunt.

Worst case scenario... the toe won't heal and we have to cut it off. Sucks - but even then he will still be able to hunt. Big picture - we're going to be okay.

I seem to have misplaced my camera - when I find it I'll post foot pictures.

As a side note - no eggs from the hawks yet...

Time to start paying attention

It is mid August and for the last five months my hawks have been hog fat. They've been up for breeding, but apparently I didn't accommodate them with the right mood music. They've been down in their weathering area and I have been pretty much leaving them alone while they molt.

The molt is about done. If you look closely at the tail feathers of Gonzo, the last few tail feathers are just about grown in.

Squirrel season doesn't open until mid October, but it is time to start watching the hawks weight.

Neither bird will come to the fist right now for food, so I need to start cutting their food intake. Once they get to a point that they will start snatching at the fist, I will snag one and start weighing them.


I would like to start car hawking Gonzo by mid September. This will get him into shape for squirrels in October.

In the meantime, I need to get out all my nets and B.C. s and start checking them over. Trapping is about a month away and school starts in two weeks, limiting my time. Things should start to get interesting here real soon.

Check out them gams

New Bird

A couple of weeks ago I received an email that the local rehab center needed someone to help out with one of their birds. I was more than happy to volunteer. Around this time, I start getting the falconry itch.

I want to get out and go hunting - so I figured that I could work with another raptor and that would help me through the worst of my withdrawal.

I was out in Charlotte last week and I stopped by the Carolina Raptor Center. April was there and she gabe our group a great tour of the facility. What a great set up they have. I'll be posting some pictures of some of the 200 birds that they house there.

At the end of the tour, April took me back to the "Hospital" and we jessed up a little Red Shouldered hawk. She looks like a small red tail, and she has an attitude to match. The one thing that surprised me about this little bird is that she is a biter.

She nailed me.

In February, she had been hit by a car and suffered some broken bones and eye damage. the bird is healed now, but the raptor center needed someone to work with the bird and asses whether it is able to see well enough to hunt or not.

So that is the plan. I'm training this little girl like a miniature Red Tail. Get her on the creance, see how she flies to the fist, then we go out and hunt.

I plan on planting mice and "critters" in the leaf litter for her to find. We'll see how she does. I've had her since Monday and she finally ate off the fist on Thursday. Training will begin now in earnest. I really appreciate the opportunity to work with the bird - I'll keep you posted.

Be aware

spotting hawks

With me traveling so much lately, I've been seeing birds everywhere. Soccer fields are surprisingly good spots to see hawks. I've seen coopers, merlins, red tails, osprey, bald eagles, and sharp shins - all in the last two weeks. Here is a repost on how to spot hawks from around this time last year.

.......I went to my training today, and met up with a friend of mine from work. He knows I'm a falconer and is fascinated by the birds. His first question for me as I sat at the table was whether I had seen any birds. I ticked off the eagles, the red tails, kestrels, etc. He nodded his head, and then let me know he hadn't seen a single bird.

One of the things I've come to realize is that most people live their lives half asleep. They are so busy worrying about what comes next, that they don't realize what's happening right now. On a perfect day to view hawks, with a nice long drive, it is almost impossible not to see them. You just have to look.

When you become a falconer, one of the first things you learn when you become an apprentice is how to spot hawks. It's a side effect of America's falconry system. Apprentice falconers are required to trap their first bird out of the wild. Therefore, it is important for the new falconer to learn the new hawk's habits and needs. You look for ducks on water because they find the things they need there. Hawks too need certain things.


I took some pictures with my point and click on the way home, I hope they help.

First off, we'll focus on red tailed hawks. They are common and easy to see. They sit up tall and they are large. Their chest is broad and white and has a distinct belly band.

Now, what does a red tail hawk need? Large tracts of land from which to hunt. An easily accessible perch. A broad view of the surrounding countryside.

Good place to look? On the side of the road. Start by looking at that tree close to home. You know the one, it sits away from the other trees. Maybe it's off by itself. Look in the top of that tree. Now as you drive down the road, there are hundreds of those trees. Peek at them as you drive, way near the top. Look for a large black shape near the top, sitting up.

Not there? Check the power lines, tops of poles. The higher the better. Remember, we are looking for a commanding view.


Flat land? What about those billboards. Maybe on top, maybe on the rail. Look real close, remember they are big.

(look next to the one)

Those big black birds circling way up in the sky? Forget 'em, they are vultures. Sometimes a peregrine will sneak in there and circle with them, or a merlin, but that is getting pretty advanced.


Keep your eyes open, they are there, if you know where to look.

Fat birds

For the last week or so I have been feeding the hawks up and getting them fat. Their main food has been (believe it or not) squirrel. The main point is I want them to have plenty to eat, and never be hungry.

Apparently, food gets them in the mood. We'll see. I fed them both a whole chicken the other day and Tess continues to eat and eat.

When both birds were full, I found Gonzo checking out the nest and Tess was exploring his side of the cage.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something will happen soon.

Cool

Sharp shin flies across my wife's van as I followed behind. It landed in a small tree right next to where I was sitting. It held a small bird, limp, in its talons as it flew (maybe a finch). It started plucking where it landed at the corner of a middle school parking lot.

We edged the car closer and snapped a picture.

Natural Cure

I have read about vineyards and farms putting up owl boxes to encourage owls to move in and help control the vermin population. This community is using the same concept to help with squirrel control. While I would tell them to hire a falconer - they are going to try to encourage wild hawks to take up residence and put a dent in the ground squirrel population.

weight control

I got the birds out today to weigh them and see how close we were to hunting weight after our little vacation. While I was gone, I had individually bagged each days food for the girl who takes care of the animals. I always err on the side of fatness when estimating their food intake, but I still overdid it.

The hawks are still fat.

Gonzo didn't even want to come down to the fist to get fed. When he is heavy, he likes to buzz my fist and try to grab food - this is what he did today. I didn't bother weighing him.

Tess came right down, as usual, and got weighed. Apparently, my digital scale doesn't like 20 degree temperatures and wasn't working, so I got out the old spring scale.

This scale I have had for some time and is not good for close weight management, but it works to give me a decent idea of where the bird is.

Tess weighed around 1100 grams. That means she needs to lose 150 - 200 grams to be ready to fly. She even looks embarrassed at being so fat!

We have a week of temperatures hovering around freezing, I am hoping that the birds will be ready for the weekend. Time to ration the food, and keep my fingers crossed.

Bird feeders

One of the things I like about this time of year is seeing the feeding that goes on in the backyard feeder. Often we see all different kinds of birds, with finches being the most common. Woodpeckers and Jays come in second (it's a tie).

I have to laugh at the squirrels that show up at my parents' feeder. They are fat and slow, but they understand how to infiltrate a feeder.

A big red tail showed up. He is a semi - regular to the feeder. I hear stories all the time about how hawks are being fed at people's bird feeders. This red tail is no exception.

Check out the feeder in this clip.

Eagles and Foxes

Does it get any better?
Check out the rest of the pictures at Querencia.

Predator is prey

Predation on raptors by other raptors is pretty common, one of the reasons you see hawks mantling on the ground over their food is to hide their catch from other bigger birds. My birds have been intimidated by other birds. Gonzo got knocked out of a tree last season by a bald eagle, though in the end, Gonzo got the best of the eagle. But that is another story.

Just the other day a first year harris flown by Chuck Butler was grabbed by a big momma red tail. It is a risk you take every time you have your birds in the field and you do everything you can to minimize that risk.

On Friday, when I was bringing the birds out of the woods later than I would have liked, the hoot of a nearby great horned owl really got my attention. Had we been in the woods much longer, I would have started to get really worried.

Check out this video of a red tail and a peregrine.

Peregrine Falcon Vs. Snowy Owl

Found this today while searching around.

To the falcon, the owl was unwelcome competition for its hard-earned meal, and so when the unknowing owl flew from the dunes to the beach, the falcon had had enough, and attacked. These photos show the interaction that ensued.

Check out the rest of the photos here.

New Falcon pics

I ran out to Andrews today. He's out of town and his falcon got free of her leash. We got her all clipped up and she was kind enough to pose for a picture.

It was a grey and dreary day otherwise.

Problem solving

I am consistently amazed at the problem solving abilities of animals. Watching the Patrick's dogs work groundhog, my own birds on squirrels, etc. It is cool to see how the animals figure out what to do next. This is a great clip on how a sparrowhawk solves his screaming magpie problem.

The White Hawk Mystery

He calls the bird a “white hawk mystery.”

Is it male? Female?

A red-tailed or a rough-legged hawk?

He wonders.

His hunch is the big white bird might be female.

He saw it sitting with a regular red-tailed hawk who was calling the standard call. He thought maybe that bird was a male flirting with the white bird.

Read the rest here.

Raptors killing in the wild

Hat tip to Terrierman for this one. It is a good read from the DC Birding Blog about raptors, talons, and how they kill their prey in the wild.

Given the prominent role that a raptor's feet play in seizing prey, it makes sense that the shape of their feet might vary with how a raptor uses them. This is in fact the result reached by a team of graduate students after they photographed and measured the feet of hundreds of bird specimens, both raptors and non-raptors. (Most specimens were held by Montana State University; others were from the American Museum of Natural History.)

Give it a read.