PEREGRINE

Hey Mad Springer hows it going? We havent heard from you for a while. Mike you are right, if you havent got the time then theres no point in getting a bird they are very time consuming. There have been a couple of requests for me to include tutorials in this dvd, much along the lines of the courses I used to teach. Would most people rather I concentrated on the hunting side of things or should I make it more instructive? Peregrine

Hi guys, just lately I have been posting a few pics on the forum of hawks and falconry etc, I dont know why it just seemed like a good idea, and some of the guys seem to like them and no one has slagged me off for it yet. Out of this came some very good and far reaching questions which are impossible to answere on the forum here, so I was thinking about filming a lot of hunting and training during this coming season, a lot of flights at fur and feather and perhaps making a full dvd of just total falconry. The dvd would contain: Training a bird from the moult, Working hawks over dogs and ferrets, bird control, lots of flights and kills at pheasant, duck, rabbit, partridge, crows, gulls, and rooks. I am not going to sell the dvd's just send me postage and I will send you a dvd to enjoy. Now the thing is I dont want to go to a load of trouble doing this if no one is interested, this is why I am doing a poll, if I get enough interest I will make the film if not I wont bother simple as that, so take a couple of minutes to vote if you can and we will see what happens. Peregrine

One more! This is a Harris taking on a flight at a rabbit the dog has just flushed, the ugly *** on the left is me. Peregrine

This is another pic of my female Lugger falcon. She is used manly on rubbish tips, although Luggers are relatively small falcons when correctly motivated they are highly aggresive toward quarry and are more than capable of putting most gulls to flight (with the exception of greater black backed gulls). If there is enough interest I will dig some more out, the problem is most of my pics are not digital which means I have to scan them and this is time consuming. Peregrine

This is a 4 year old female Harris Hawk on a rabbit kill.

Several people have asked for more hawk pics so here are a couple more. This is a 6yrs old male Finnish Goshawk returning to the fist, this bird has just been put down for breeding. He averaged 200 - 260 head of game a year, quarry list consisted of all british quarry including pheasant, partridge, duck, rabbit, pigeon, crow, rook, and also once bound to the head of a big dog fox who luckily stuck his head into a bush and scraped him off!

Hi pigeon decoyer Yes I have many pics of the hawks hunting and on kills, both over dogs and ferrets but I feel many members would be pxxsed off if I kept posting pics of falconry when this is a pigeon shooting forum. However I am thinking of creating a website where I will upload lots of pics and video, when I do I will post the url on this site and if anyone is at all interested they can brows all the pics. Peregrine

Hi Widgeon welcome to the site. By your name I would say you were a wildfowler would I be correct? Peregrine

Ok Teal I will see what I can do! Peregrine

greeneddie the techique for training and using the right bird for the job is too long and complex to go into here so I wiill just sum up. The idea is to actually hunt the pigeons as best you can, however it does not take long for the hawk to realise what it can and cant catch, as the only environmentally friendly way of removing pests you do not want to kill all of them, just move them onto someone elses roof. You have to remember that in a lot of sites you will be on the rooftop, this means you have to teach your hawk to look up for you instead of down as the chances are after an unsuccesful flight he will be below you. Needless to say his responses must be absolutely spot on, although Harris hawks are easy to train few falconers can bring them to such a peak as to have them trained well enough. The best way of achieving this is to train him with the care you would train a Goss. If anyone would be interested maybe when I get some time I will take some video footage of me at work with one of the birds and post it on here, I dont want to go too off topic however as this is not a falconry forum. Peregrine

rb5037 the flying season is over now until the winter but you can come and have a go then if you want I have Harris hawks that will fly for strangers so you can one of those I will take a Goss. greeneddie there are 2 main types of bird control, working round buildings for feral pigeons, starlings etc. which you really need a smaller mail harris for, and working the tips and airstrips which your hybrid would be excellent for. Probably the best way of getting into the game would be to look through cage & aviary or some similap publication under the falconry section and see if there are any commercial companys looking for falconers to work the tips they have contracts on however BEWARE there are a lot of companys out there that will take advantage of keen young falconers. Peregrine

Digger the Lugger is the little falcon at the front of the second picture. They are starting to come into the moult now. Teal yes I do keep ferals off the rooftops of london hospitals but also keep gulls off rubbish tips as well, used to do a lot of american air basis in Wales a few years back. I used to do falconry displays, falconry courses, insight days, hunting days, breeding, pro training, and hand make all the equipment for export all round the world. Not any more though just a bit of bird clearance and hunt for my own pleasure I am very glad to say. Peregrine

rb5037 yes I am right on the South Coast, moved here because its very good hawking round this area although not many pigeons for decoying at the moment Peregrine

This one is of a female Lugger falcon I use for tip work and a female Harris hawk used for commercial hunting trips. If I manage to breed any Goshawks this year I will post a pic of the youngsters. Peregrine

Sorry no pics of Shepherds pies, just a pic of a male Harris hawk I use for bird clearance in London! Peregrine

What about the Chopper bike, and going down the hill on a book and skate before some wise **** made them into skateboards, pathfinder shoes with the compass in the heel and the duffel coat your mother made you wear. Being sent to the headmaster for the slipper was a real punishment and your parents didn't sue him, wonder how teenagers of today would have copped with life back then. They are missing a lot , great days wandering the fields with your catapult looking for small birds to feed your Kestrel on, "sigh" happy days. Peregrine

Brilliant!!!!! Peregrine

I'm interested, got probs with my springer retrieving and could do with all the help I can get!! Peregrine

One more!!

This is my springer pup getting used to the hawks she will have to work with in coming seasons!!

For what its worth I have used all the callibers and for many years shot only .22 for hunting, that is until I went pro on pest control. For the next 12 years I shot only.177 needing the superior accuracy of the smaller calliber, providing the pellet is placed correctly shocking power is not an issue, if its not placed properly it doesent matter what calliber you use you will not achieve clean kills. I think dedicated .22 hunters as I was, would be suprised if they seriously tried a decent .177 for hunting, by seriously I mean at least a couple of seasons, that extra bit of speed the pellet has makes a lot of difference and you cannot beat the accuracy once you have confidence in the smaller calliber. Peregrine

I would be interested. I live about 25 miles from Tenterden and havent shot clays for quite a while, could be fun!! Peregrine

Fair comment FM. RB my appologies Peregrine

Is this a pigeon forum or a family pic album?? I could fill the whole webspace up with pics of my kids doing stupid things but what would be the bloody point!! Didnt several members get the boot a few months ago for posting banal rubbish? Peregrine