Flying as a Cast

Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet up with some other falconers. We went out to a wood near their house and flew all the birds together. It is amazing when you see more four harris sitting next to each other in a tree. Hopeful when the weather is better we will be able to go ferreting.

Flying through the trees

On Saturday we took him to an open piece of woodland so he could learn to land in trees. At first he landed on the thinnest, most awkward branches but after a while he figured out the best places to sit. Don't forget it was the first time he had ever landed in a tree in his entire life so he was making quick progress.

At the weekend I will hopefully try to enter him and catch a rabbit.

flying free

Yesterday we did some lure training to familiarize him with it. The lure, which is basically  a furry beanbag, was garnished with food at the top end. This is to train him to grab onto the head of his prey so that it is a clean kill. He responded well to it, flying to it as soon as it was shown to him, and hitting it with force.

Today I did one long flight to the lure and he responded well, so I untied the creance and he was free, flying happily to and from the glove. Soon I will be able to enter him, which is getting him his first kill, but first his fitness will need to improve or he wont be fast enough to catch the rabbit.

Today we took him out and started creance training, We gradually increased the distance he had to fly to the fist to 50m, we will do the same tomorrow and friday, slowly introducing the rabbit lure. If all goes smoothly and he is instant to the glove and the lure then on saturday he will be flying free for the first time.

Making Progress

For the last week i have been feeding him on the glove every other day, trying to lower his weight. On monday he weighed 1lb 12.5oz and today he weighs 1lb 10oz. Now he is at a lower weight i have been able to make some progress, for the past two days he has been hopping onto the glove for food. Tomorrow I hope to start training him on the creance, starting with a small distance and building it up until he is flying free.

Photo Taken today.