Saker Clive

This is one where I fly my birds........................................

This was earlier this week................................... 3lb. 4oz. IThe weather today here has been glorious sunshine so not wanting to miss any more flights, I took the Saker out first for an hour, then the Harris as there were a number of rabbits...........and we came home with one in the bag took some pics on the mobile but haven't uploaded them yet.................then flew Bobby in the garden as I was getting late, 17:20. I showed her the rabbit from the back door and she went into mental mode. I asked my son to video her from his bedroom but he was loving watching her that he 'forgot' to do it.......................................any way, I got her to do the usual couple of flights back and fourth, then I opened my Hawking bag and started to pull the rabbit out and she was thereand attached to the head. As she was trying to take it away she did lose her footing and landed on the grass giving me 'evils' with her blood soaked not so white feet. I must say, I was a little hesitant to turn my back on her to put the rabbit away but managed it without too much intervention from her. I got her to make a few more flights, then I got her to chase me around the garden with me draging the rabbit again. Definately going to get out over the feild this week and I may take the carcase and attach that to the line and set her free...................gulp! that will depend on who and what else is about. Might have to take a freind or two for back up.

3lb. 4 1/2oz. I put her weight up a little as for the majority of this week it has been wet and 'orrible, so I knew that we wouldn't get out into the fields! Flown her free a couple of times in the garden but decided to put her back on the line today...............................good job as well. All was going as normal then the gulls got up and began going mental; I thought it ws just because Bobby wa out so we carried on, then I decided to go further back and upto the back door. No problem, she made her way over then landed on the lattice panel just before getting to me. nothing too much to be concerned about.............then we both saw it, and it saw us............................................a very cheeky and lucky fox jumped up onto the next door neighbours wall not 20 feet from us. Then everything seemed to go in slow motion. Almost as soon as we all saw each other, the fox shrugged down and froze for a split second, I grabbed the line at the same time Bobby was off towards it I managed to pull her up before she made the fence panel and she un-ceromoniously clattered to the patio area below (still on my side) whilst I frantically wound up the line. Needless to say the fox legged it and I managed to coax Bobby back up with a chicks head but she was pumped and seemed to want to kill something or someone!!! She was looking intently over the fence trying to get a glimpse of 'charlie' and as I began to take her back to the enclosure, she decided to administer the 'death grip'. It took about tem minutes before she calmed down and I was able to get her back onto her perch before finishing off with the last few heads and legs. In all she had the heads and legs of 5 chicks, and I'm going to soak my hand as the line burns as it went through.

Yesterday she was 3lb. 3 1/2oz. and after flying the Saker I put her on the line in the garden and she was much more eager for some reason; probably as I've held her at this weight for a while. Any way, she flew for legs and heads and the bodies of 2 chicks again. Today, I've been running around a fair bit with other 'duties' so didn't even weigh any of the birds but I had defrosted a large rabbit. I butchered it outside in the garden, cut and pulled off the 4 legs, cut the head off and then cut the body into 3 peices. Bobby was flying up to the front of the enclosure and started to make a higher pitched 'maaa'!! I went down and threw the rabbit head into the enclosure and before it had hit the ground, she had already caught it. I thought it would be good for the both of us to see just how she would react with a large peice of food and to have me at close quarters.......................................... ...............well; I'm glad I had my steel toe caps on as she lunged at my feet a couple of times before (and I think this is an owl thing, as the Bengals do the same) she 'sat on top of it like nesting on eggs!!!!! She fluffed herself up and there was no way in heaven or hell I was going to get near it! Obviously this is going to be another part of our training but at least I now know what I'm in for. I took a couple of pics and a little video but haven't uploaded that yet but I will shortly Sitting over the rabbit head........... .........and it definately doesn't look too good for me to try to remove anything bigger than a chick!!!!! Her noises are her displeasure of me getting too close to her 'kill'

Met up with my good old mate Bash and we took Zarbu out today over my National Trust land; I took the FinePix s6500fd and Bash had his HD camcorder. Well, the first 15 minutes, my little darling wouldn't do squat, and litterally jumped from post to post a few times, then sat and waited until half a dozen crows came over and began to 'play'. We both carried on walking as our 'summit' is about a mile awayand 200+meters high. As we got half way, she did get up and she had a great time chasing and winding up the crows. I called her in after about 15 minutes and gave her the lure, then as usual, I threw a leg away for her so that I could get the lure re-loaded. Zarb had other ideas and flew back towards me wanting the head I was trying to place on the lure; after a few stoops at me I said to Bash that this is the time I should try and get some pics...........................so without really aiming and viewing the shot, I simply pointed and kept shooting................................. Met up with my good old mate Bash and we took Zarbu out today over my National Trust land; I took the FinePix s6500fd and Bash had his HD camcorder. Well, the first 15 minutes, my little darling wouldn't do squat, and litterally jumped from post to post a few times, then sat and waited until half a dozen crows came over and began to 'play'. We both carried on walking as our 'summit' is about a mile awayand 200+meters high. As we got half way, she did get up and she had a great time chasing and winding up the crows. I called her in after about 15 minutes and gave her the lure, then as usual, I threw a leg away for her so that I could get the lure re-loaded. Zarb had other ideas and flew back towards me wanting the head I was trying to place on the lure; after a few stoops at me I said to Bash that this is the time I should try and get some pics...........................so without really aiming and viewing the shot, I simply pointed and kept shooting................................. Met up with my good old mate Bash and we took Zarbu out today over my National Trust land; I took the FinePix s6500fd and Bash had his HD camcorder. Well, the first 15 minutes, my little darling wouldn't do squat, and litterally jumped from post to post a few times, then sat and waited until half a dozen crows came over and began to 'play'. We both carried on walking as our 'summit' is about a mile awayand 200+meters high. As we got half way, she did get up and she had a great time chasing and winding up the crows. I called her in after about 15 minutes and gave her the lure, then as usual, I threw a leg away for her so that I could get the lure re-loaded. Zarb had other ideas and flew back towards me wanting the head I was trying to place on the lure; after a few stoops at me I said to Bash that this is the time I should try and get some pics...........................so without really aiming and viewing the shot, I simply pointed and kept shooting................................. and some video that my mate shot..................................

24/01/'10 I took Zarbu out today and she had a ball! Me on the other hand was chasing her all over the ruddy place. She started off well, then decided to land and take a paddle in one of the big puddles........................................... ....I ran the 300 yards to get to her and she was standing right up with her legs totally submerged (as was the FE fmv transmitter). As I got nearer, she took off and went another few hundred yards and sat on the gate to dry off a little. A crow came over and bombed her, then she went off chasing it before being joined by another 5 of them. She went down again on the upper level and found an even bigger puddle.......... I made my way up to see her on the edge of the plunge pool and she made off again. She carried on up towards the top of the road when she was again joined by the crows. This time they were all heading back in my direction and then carried on down and over the Marina before ringing up and staying over the lower end of Roedean. Then I saw her stoop and lost sight of her. A few minutes passed and nothing, so I checked the receiver and realised she was down and sitting. I scanned the area but couldn't see her, so I went for a walk over towards the hill to take another reading just to get a pin point of where she was. As I made my way down and along the hill, I saw a number of crows bombing a bush and checked the receiver. As I thought, Zarbu was obviously down there and whistled to her. A short time later she took flight and I hoped she was on her way back to the lure........................................wrong, she seemed to be loving it, and roused on the wing a good 6 times whilst ringing up. She came up over me and totally ignored me and carried on back towards the top of the road again! She carried on ringing up and stooping for another 20 minutes before decideing to come back in and getting re-equipped. We then had a long walk back to the car and home....................

Being 12 years old, I still maintain that her very early training was well done; then as she got passed on she was then more of a 'cuddly pet', then passed on again and was then left and untouched.............................................................now that I'm doing things with her every day, she is getting into a regular routine and possibly remembering (if they do ) from way back. I am worried about how she will be when I do eventually get her to fly free; especially as she has shown me that she is looking at dogs 300 yards away!!! This bird has the power and strength to pick up and carry off 15-20lbs. with ease. That is a Jack Russel or Yorkie......or any number of the 'dinky' dogs. How do I explain that when someone says, 'What a gorgous bird..............................' then she plucks a dog running about and flies off with it or even worse a big dog and rips its face apart!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love her to bits, and if anything like this ever did happen, it would break my heart as I know I'd have to have her put to sleep or I'd have to shoot her myself. The publicity would be really damming and bad for 'falconry', and I don't want that on my concience.

3lb. 3 1/4oz. Today she was very aggressive towards the Saker and Harris!! On taking them through the pathway to weigh them, Bobby flew at the front and sides with both feet coming through the mesh!!! She did this both on leaving their enclosure and returning. After weighing all the other birds, I was a little tentative on entering her space just incase she wanted to do the same to me but she was daft gentle self. I fed the others, then took her over the field on the line. Yet again, there was so much going on she would come the the glove even though she would look and 'taste' the air! Then something really suprised me; she stood bolt upright bobbing her head and I turned to my left to see a young or smallish fox about 30 yards behind me along the bushes. As I turned around, it froze, then went down almost like a cat about to stalk a bird or something.............................the next thing I knew was Bobby was on her way towards it and the fox jumping back into the bushes. The line is 60 foot so I gently pulled her up as I knew she wouldn't have got the fox (and I didn't want to start off in that way or possibly get injured). I made into her and got her up on the glove before sending her off to the gate, where she was perched. Then we were joined by 2 crows on the other side of the gate in the corral; she took a keen interest in them also, so I walked down to her which meant she had the line to make it to tem if she wanted. I gave her a leg as a tid-bit, then just stood next to her watching the crows. She did make a move but they were watching her so intently that as soon as she began to push off the gate, they were gone. I had to gently pull her up again as I let the line run through my gloved hand, so I was able to tighten up on the line making her land nicely on the ground. after this, I knew she wasn't going to do any thing, so I got her to jump up to the glove for a chick body, then we made our way home. I put her away, then gave her another chick which she flew for in her enclosure. After today, I have no doubt that as and when I do get her flying free, she will definately kill BUT my biggest concerns are going to be what and will I be able to make in and assist or even remove the quarry!!!

3lb. 3 1/2oz. the more we seem to do the more responsive she is getting which has been the plan. The last few days she has changed a little but I can't quite figure out why!! All the time she is flying for her food, she is fine; when I bring her indoors, she's fine but as i start to take her back to her enclosure............................she gives me the 'Great Horned Death grip' and will not let go!!! It is like she wants to either stay indoors or with me!! The other day, after we'd completed our session on the line, we were going back to the enclosure and on went the 'GHDG' and unfortunately for me she got her rear talon on my little finger a couple of mm's below the nail.........................the pain was not very pleasant I can say, and every time I tried to place her on a perch or fence, she gripped even tighter. I was begining to feel a tad queezy after 5 minutes so brought her back indoors. After a couple of minutes, she'd settled again and relinquished her grip; I let her jump down onto the rug, then I went and run my hand under a cold tap; might have to look into a thicker glove as I have no doubt that she could go through the standard falconry gloves without any real hardship!!! I'm hoping that this weekend she'll start flying over the field on the line as today I only gave her 2 chicks. I put Millie (Bengal) on the line first, and Bobby was flying to the front of the enclosure wanting the food, so again, this is a great sign as she is hungry enough to want to fly. I want to take my daughter with me to help in her training, but I'm worried about her grip should she decide to hold on to Dani.

Went and helped a freind fit new equipment on his female Harris hawk and as he hadn't seen Booby before I took her along and tried to get her to fly in his garden. Well, he also has chickens................................and when I offered her a little piddly day old chick, she looked at me in disgust and carried on gazing at the chickens in the coop!!! Needless to say she didn't fly to me; she did fly down towards the coop and marched up and down in front of it!! This is her staring at the chickens............................... This seat IS taken.................... Bloody paparrazi!

We took her out on the line in the snow again, the boy took his camera but she wasn't too interested in flying much.................................................... He does have a lot to learn about taking his pics...........but he's only 13; one day he might be as good as me

just a few pics as I've now got a 'new' toy........................................still practising and learning.

3lb. 6oz. again so at the moment 3 chicks will hold her steady; tonight and for the next week IF the forecast is to be beleived it is going to drop down to about -5 over night!! I did the same today as yesterday but with not as much enthusiasm from Bobby; she seemed to be looking about considerably more than yesterday which seemed a little strange. I did video about 20 minutes after setting the camera up and managed to crop it down to about 4. One new little quirk I've found out about her is when she's on the ground, and I approach her she does like my work shoes and trundles after me trying to 'peck' at them!!!!!! not sure what this will look like as on the camera it looks quite bright but on my pc. (old monitor) it looks quite dark!!

3lb. 6oz. Although still feeling like death, I weighed the birds and today the sun is shining, with clear blue skies and I though it was time to get Bobby out on the line; so I jessed her up and opened up the line the length of the garden area with from fence to me was just over 16 feet. Without any warm up or close quarter jumps, I placed her on the fence panel and went back to the 'patio' hard stand. As expected her eyes were everywhere BUT what did suprise me more than anything is that she didn't once try to fly over the fences or the roof etc. I called her and offered her the whole chick and she looked and had a little foot shuffle, then a woodpigeon flew over which she took an interest in, then I called her again but this time she looked up to the sky and watched an airline jet 35000 feet up fly over. I pulled the head of the chick and threw it on the ground beneath her which she quickly jumped down to get. From there, I called her to the fist again and a few seconds later she made her first official outside flight of 15 feet. She took a chunk off the body, then flew back down to the ground and ate it. I still had the yolk sack and legs in my fingers and called her again. now that she has had a little taster she knew what was expected and came up to the fist once more. I gave her a lot of praise and a kiss on the head and took her back and placed her on the fence again. From here, she is able to see to the end of the road through all the other gardens as well as the enclosures behind her and the houses that back on to us etc. I called to her again with another chick but a neighbour 2 doors up came out to see!!! Again she decided to take in the sites a little longer so like the first time, I threw a head on the ground beneath her. Like the first time, she jumped down to it, then looked up at me almost waiting for me to call her...................I wiggled the body over the glove and she was soon on her way again. This perked me up no end, and although I still had 2 chicks in the pot I didn't want to over do it as her weight would probably creep up a little. We went through pretty much the same for her third chick then I put her away. The last chick I had left, I pulled off the head and legs and gave the Harris the body as an extra treatto his daily rations and went back in with Bobby. I hand fed her the head and legs telling her how good she was. Hopefully tomorrow, if the weather is the same, I'll charge up the video As you say George probably another 2oz off before she is ready to go free but I'm in no rush to get that far just yet; the uicker I can get her out over the feilds the better, then we can really get under way with her training. I'm really pleased with todays effort.

thank you but we haven't really started the real training yet; so far all I've done is gained her trust to fly to me for her food and be with me in the surroundings that she is now used to. When I try her out in the field with all the other distractions is when the real work starts and the fun begins