April 2006

Pasha came home on the 16th of April and, prior to collecting her, she had been in a chamber for a week whilst I was in Texas on business. Before I'd left she had been rock steady and sat politely on my fist for ages. By the time I came back she was a spitfire of fury and bated every chance she got. Too high in weight - that must be it. I gradually cut her down between the 16th and the 19th when she hit 635gms and was hopping to the fist and feeding on rabbit tirings with a modicum of decorum once more.

Lugger falcons are the rarest of falcons having been almost wiped out by pesticide misuse in their native Indian subcontinent. They do have a reputation amongst falconers for being lazy and bad tempered. I just thought she was beautiful. Pasha was a parent reared bird bred at Adrian's centre and had already flown free so was a "made hawk" i.e. I wouldn't have to start from scratch and merely remind her of the drill. But she hadn't ever been flown hard and had never been entered. That was my challenge: first get her fit, then get her to mount (go high) and wait on (circle until prey was flushed) and finally get her entered (to catch something for herself). No small ambition for a novice like me.

By the 21st I had her on the creance and she was off the A frame and hitting the lure first time. Then on the 22nd I had to go away on business and when I came back she was wild again: biting and footing me. The creance flight was a total nightmare. This is definitely different from training a relatively docile Harris for sure. I talked it over with Adrian and he suggested I cut her down hard which I did and by the 24th she hit 615 gms and was ladylike once more, coming 25ft to the lure first call and even behaving in a friendly manner around me. Progress...

On the 25th she did a pass on the creance. I'd read about it in a falconry book by a lady with a double barrelled name: get the bird to do it's first pass on a creance for safety so I thought I'd try it. The bird was fine with it but the creance line went everywhere as she went past me and of course we all got hopelessly tangled. "Why the bloody hell did you do that?" asked Adrian when I told him "You've been reading those damn books again haven't you?" I could hardly argue. But she had done a pass and so now was the moment: free flight.

April 26th: she was down to 610 gms and it was time. I placed her on the A frame with her hood braces struck and walked off into the field. On my nod, Jamie slipped her hood off smoothly and she was off towards me like a bullet. One or two swings of the lure and she executed a perfect pass, throwing up and turning back on a coin to come back for me. I served her immediately with a surge of real pleasure and achievement. Now the real work could begin.

To get her fit I had to push the number of passes and flights up daily and on the 28th she was doing 5 passes twice a day. I was feeding her about 60gms a day but by the last day of the month she had hit 640gms at pick-up and was a flaming nightmare again -snatching at food, diving off the shelf-perch when I went to get her and smashing her feathers up. She lost the tip of a tail feather on one of the pickups - every falconer's nightmare. This was much harder and much more precise than I expected having flown Harris hawks for many years...

May 2006

On the 1st she was at 620gms and was stroppy stroppy stroppy. What a temper this bird has but she did fly three times that day. Her fitness is dreadful and after only a few passes she has her beak open gasping for air. I am not experienced enough to decide the precise moment to serve her so I just try to push her a little more each time in the hope that it builds lung capacity and muscle tone. I also fed her a little less and the next day, with only 5gms of difference in her weight, she was like a different bird. Manners had returned but the weather was blowing a howling gale and instead of flying her properly I settled for having her follow me across the field for a waved chick. The headwind made her really work hard for her dinner and it was a novel way of progressing her fitness training.

The kids were desperate to fly her so I gave them a few lessons on swinging a left-hand pass and then we went for it. Jamie made four decent passes before she tagged him and was elated at her speed and power. Then it was Scotty's turn. Off she went from my fist and headed straight towards the wee man. He gamely swung the lure but...disaster. He had it on a short line and for part of it's pass it swung in front of him. Pasha couldn't stop her approach as it went in front of Scott and she crashed straight into his leg. He was beside himself with grief that he had killed or injured her. It wasn't his fault - just a simple mistake - but it showed just how easy it could be to cause serious damage to the bird unintentionally. Thankfully she was fine. He did fly her once more but didn't really want to do it again. Same with Jamie: as she got fitter and faster he became less comfortable flying her until he decided that it wasn't for him. Up to Dad then...

This weight thing is confusing to a novice falconer. At the outset of her training she was pretty unmanageable on pick up if she was high, say about 640gms, but by the 4th May I had a bravery attack and flew her 5 times with the final flight being at a weight of 650gms! She was stunning too, going higher than before and coming in with total commitment. This was in contrast with the previous day when I had taken her to Adrian's to let him give her the once over and she pretty much refused to fly - just putting in half-hearted fluttering passes. Adrian did notice her extremely tight turning circle: she could almost turn on herself at any speed which meant that you had to be very ready indeed with the lure as she was no sooner past you and she had turned back for another go. "I've never seen a falcon turn so quick" he observed.

The pattern of her flying was now beginning to be established. I'd pick her up, hood her then weigh her. Next I'd slip on her telemetry and walk her out into the field taking off her gear as I went. When I slipped her hood off she would do a quick circuit of me and then head over to the barn to sit on the roof and wait till I was ready. I knew that this wasn't a good habit to let her get into as "classic" falcon lure work involves getting a bird to mount higher and higher straight off the fist and then start getting her to make passes. But I'm not in the classic mold and I was happy just to have her come back! As soon as I started to swing she'd bob her head a few times and then streak off across the field at low level for the first pass. Her flights at this stage were almost all low-level attacks and as she made her passes her wingtips would rattle on the dead stubble from last year. At first I didn't register this as a problem but later I started to notice some broken primary wing-tips and gradually it dawned on me that these low passes were the cause. I immediately changed the height of the lure forcing her upwards and, when into a head-wind, got the added benefit of sending her higher and higher as her training progressed.

On the 9th she was at 645gms on pick up and miracle of miracles was pretty steady. Her flying was not so good though as she was more reluctant to come to the lure if it was swung but the minute it was dropped on the ground, off she would come. Between flights she'd sit on the barn roof, unbelievably, surrounded by pigeons! The local bird population, after an initial few days of threat calls and panic, had settled down to Pasha's presence and basically ignored her. The pigeons regularly strutted up and down in a mating dance totally oblivious to the falcon. "That won't last" I thought hopefully. I had her out for the fifth time that day and she was flying brilliantly, gaining height and speed every time. I pushed her hard - up to 25 full passes - and then served her. Disaster. As she came for the lure she banked and missed it. The line slid down her back and caught in the battery case of the telemetry ripping out the tail feather it was mounted on! What an idiot I felt. What would Adrian say? How could I fly her now without telemetry. I was very down.

Once again business intruded and I couldn't fly her for a while. When I got back I cut her weight and decided to risk flying her at low weights without telemetry. On the first trip out, another problem manifested itself. I had gone up to Adrian's for another lure lesson so that I could work on other pass forms than just the left hand pass and drop pass that I was doing. The reason I wanted to do this was to start to control the bird's position relative to the wind. Where I live it can be very windy and when she was downwind of me she would fly figure of eight patterns going upwind to the right, turning in on me for a left hand pass and then out to the left and upwind for a pass on that side. The problem was that from the left, the best pass was a right hander which I could not do for the life of me. I also wanted to start getting her to go higher and the way to do this was to master an overhead pass into the wind leaving the bird no alternative but to gain altitude as she chased the lure upwards above me. Half an hour of swinging and practice and I reckoned I was good enough. Mistake. Big mistake...

My lure work was a total disaster. Not only was I crap at right handers and overheads, my left-hand passes had gone all to pot as well and, worryingly, I had been clipped by her a few times. This day culminated in the worst possible outcome. She had executed a few passes no problem and then I tried an overhead on her as she came in very fast indeed. My timing was off resulting in a late swing upwards leaving her without enough room to maneouvre and she hit me hard on the forehead knocking me clean off my feet. I was stunned, literally, and as I picked myself up I found her sitting beside me looking equally stunned. I got her on the fist and checked her over. She seemed ok thankfully. "That's it! This is NOT for me." I muttered as I stamped back to her mews.

My motivation in all of what I do is to put the bird's welfare first at all times. I was making a total mess of this and it was endangering the bird. It might even lead to her death. I called Adrian and talked it over with him. He thought the same as me: I was over-thinking the lure-work and I should just go back to basics, relax and practice using the left hand pass. I had a coffee, calmed down and then took her out again. She was high at 650gms but eventually came for a drop lure and made a few passes before I served her. She looked fine. Thank God. And I was back in the saddle.

Over the next week I tried to "unlearn" what I had learned and made progress getting her to fly higher and higher (this is relative: at the outset she would only go about 20ft high on a pass but by now she was going 50ft- 70ft on a good day) and also pushing her flying weight up to hit a high of 685gms (1lb 8.25 oz in old money...) which was quite something given her starting weights last month. She was still flying without telemetry, still focused on the lure and totally ignoring all wildlife around the farm, much to the relief of the lapwings, curlews and oyster catchers that were all brooding young in the flying field.

By month's end we seemed back on track with her hitting 30 passes in a session and flying an average of three times per day, although her moods were still variable and I never knew what to expect even on the same weight as previous good behaviour.

June 2006

First week I was off salmon fishing and took her along. The estate gamekeepers eyed her askance but were interested in her anyway and I flew her in a nice little field that had high sides like an amphitheatre which she used very effectively to get lift. I was feeding her beef shin for convenience and I have to say that I gained the impression that she didn't like it much as when we got back and I gave her day old chick and she devoured them with obvious relish.

However it was now time to start switching her onto "proper" food to get her attuned to eating potential prey species as the first stage of preparing her to hunt on her own. The obvious option was pigeon - many a falcon's natural prey and in abundance around the farm, both woodies and feral rock doves. On the 7th we had a very interesting encounter: a feral bird broke from the trees close to her when she was flying to the lure and she just "switched on" and chased it with intent, actually raking it at one point! We were all well fired up with that! It was the first time she'd shown any interest whatsoever in prey. The kids later found the feral pigeon mortally wounded in the barn and I despatched it quickly and fed it to her. I can't count this as a first kill but it had definite impetus on her development. Pigeons are very testing quarry for falcons and Pasha was nowhere near fit enough to take them on, but she was getting there and it was time to push up the prey intake in her diet.

I gave her more pigeon over the next few days and her flying was becoming more committed and impressive each time we went out. This extra food pushed her weight up and her temper went downhill in direct proportion. Her newest of new habits was to hang upside down when I produced the hood, making me do the Australian hooding technique. It was a real pain in the butt and it also damaged her feathers more and more, not to mention undermining any bond that we may have had up to this point. Once again I began to feel that this was not for me.

Over the next week she was variable in flying: some days fantastic, the next awful and all at the same weight levels. I started to bring her weight down again and on the 20th June she was flying brilliantly and stayed up for almost 30 minutes at one point, making high passes at high speed. On the last flight she tagged the lure and actually split it in two, carrying off one part to the barn roof. What now? I tried throwing a new lure up in front of her a number of times but nothing moved her. Then I made the cardinal sin: I went to get the ladder. I had already had a bad experience with Jester using a ladder and really should have known better. As soon as she saw me coming with it, she freaked and flew off into the gathering dusk with her half lure. Damn. No telemetry and a high in weight falcon in a foul temper off somewhere god only knows. I called Adrian and he told me not to worry, she'd come back. I was furious with myself of course and marched about the field swinging a lure and calling...and swinging...and calling...and swinging. For an hour and a half. Then, miracle of miracles, I heard a bell above me. It was her ladyship! She was nervous but eventually came for the lure and I got her back. Phew! Next stop, Adrian's for a new telemetry mount!

On the 22nd I had a fresh dead pigeon for her in my bag which I intended throwing to her after making her work hard for it on the lure. I picked her up and went through the usual ritual but this time when she was unhooded she bobbed her head towards the field and took off like a rocket towards an old straw bale. A wood pigeon got up ahead of her and she really whacked on the power as it headed for the treeline by the river. She gained on it and almost hit it but it gained the cover of a tree and Pasha made a quick sharp turn and headed back to me. As she closed I yelled "Ho!" and threw the dead pigeon up for her. She nailed it and dropped to the deck happy. I let her feed up in it on her block and she was stuffed by the time she was put down for the night. This was more like it, although she broke another tail feather on the pigeon carcass.

Now she was truly switched on and was interested in chasing pigeons as prey. I tried a few times to see if she would take on crows or jackdaws but, although the hay fields were full of them and they got up when she was flown, she never showed the slightest interest in them. But I'm guessing that the same technique of feeding her fresh carcasses would work there too.

On the 28th everything was as normal as I slipped her off. She headed for the barn, as usual, and then switched on to something in the field. Soon she was out of sight and I had to run for the telemetry. Unworried, I turned it on and started tracking her. She seemed to have changed direction and I "found" her about quarter of a mile away and headed towards the strong signal. Then, mysteriously, I lost the signal. Every so often I'd get a beep or two but mostly it was just static. It was 2.00pm and I had hopes that she'd wander back when she got hungry. By 5.00pm there was still no sign of her and despite several sorties out with the telemetry I simply could not find her. Adrian gave lots of phone encouragement and came down in the evening with his receiver to help out. We immediately got some good signals over on the local estate about 3 miles away and tracked her up the side of the largest hill. I went the last 200yards upwards on foot following a very strong signal and I was convinced she was within 20 yards of me when the signal dropped again. It was getting dark by now and Adrian suggested we knock off and I come back in the morning to see if she was hungry.

There was nothing else for it but I was very upset with the performance of the telemetry. The signals were intermittent and one minute we'd get a good signal in one direction, the next a faint one away West or North or East...it was all very confusing and depressing tell the truth.

At 4.30 am I was back up the hill and...nothing. Not a twitch or a beep. I tracked around and around but no signal. At 7.00am I was ranging about and got a very strong signal by an old ruined manor house. I looked over at it and saw a flock of agitated pigeons swirling around it. Could it be her hunting? Then the signal dropped again and I wasn't sure. Although I swung the lure and called she never came.

By 11.30 am I had to leave and go to the office (falconry is only for those who have the freedom to work flexible hours - that's for sure!). As a last gasp, I tried a final  sweep with the receiver and lo and behold! a strong beep and local by its strength. Then it dropped, then it came back...this was hopeless. I heard a bell and spun round to use what the RAF call the "Mark 1 eyeball". She was up on the chimney! I got the lure out and after a few little flutters around she nailed it. She was back. I weighed her and she was 635 gms so she hadn't killed.

July 2006

Life was now becoming very interesting with Pasha. She was now more and more determined to chase quarry and every few days she would head off on a mission, which isn't really what you want as it's better to have her on pitch and waiting on you to flush, but I really badly wanted her to get a kill and there is always an element with self-hunting and falcons if you can't serve them at the right moment. There's no shortage of pigeons and so forth on the farm so there was always plenty for her to check off at. I felt confident that soon there would be a number of young, inexperienced pigeons around and that she would be successful as soon as they started cutting the crops by the end of July.

I had also fixed the telemetry problem after talking with the distributor and getting a supply of better batteries so when she went off I was always able to track her successfully and recover her. She did go a fairly long way too, couple of miles on average and I'd find her on chimney roofs and barns and in trees around the area with regularity.

I was away again on holiday from the 10th for a week though and so the next stage of training, getting her entered properly, would have to wait till I got back. Adrian kindly put her into a chamber for the week for me but I had a feeling that this would affect her weight regime but there was noting else that could be done under the circumstances.

When I got back, I found that it had indeed been a bad move as she'd dropped her centre deck feathers, both bell and telemetry tail mount, as well as a handful of wing feathers. She'd been throwing the odd feather from time to time up until then but this was a different level. She'd started a full and aggressive moult and was best left to it.

It was a real experience to switch from the friendly, sociable Harris to a falcon. The weight regime is infinitely more important and it was most disappointing not to be able to build any kind of relationship with the bird like you can with a Harris. I found myself ambivalent to her actually: of course I wanted to do the best for her and was distraught when she got into any trouble like hitting me or the kids or flying away, but at the same time she had a truly foul temper with frequent epic tantrums, sulks and a general moodiness that made it impossible to really relax around her. Reminded me of my ex-wife...

Lure swinging, whilst initially exciting, also becomes a necessary chore: a means to an end in other words and cannot replace the thrill of watching a hunting falcon on the wing. It was always different of course and I learned all the time, but it wasn't what I was interested in having a falcon for, that was for sure. I also learned too how delicate and fragile falcon's feathers are. Harris hawks' tail feather take some abuse on kills and always seem to spring back. Pasha smashed up 4 of her tail feathers in seemingly safe situations to my immense frustration and chagrin. And...don't be fooled by the seemingly fragile feet. What a vicious grip she had and her talons were like razors, often penetrating to the bone. I have several very impressive scars on my right hand to show for my three months work.

It was an experience and I'm glad I tried it. I learned a great deal and at least I didn't lose or kill the bird! Will I keep it up when she's moulted through?

Possibly...Adrian has a little tiercel peregrine...a proven hunter...may be a good swap for Pasha that would get me up and going on rooks and partridge...you know how it goes.

Chic McSherry July 2006

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