How did you get into Falconry ???

[Sandeep]

Hi There

Falconry is one of the weirdest of sports. How did you guys get into it.

Well for me it was crazy.... My home town is in place called Mangalore. Its still heaven to me. Its densly covered with forests and there is a lot of game. The draw back is that one can fly short wings only. Back to the point... when I was a little boy I saw a kite snatch chicks from our hens... I then used to get chicks from our hens and put them in a opening so that the kite could take it... I got thrashed by my grandmother for doing that.

Much later I saw some footage on falconry and I was hooked on to it..... I got my first bird - shikra almost 10 years later. Since falconry is not legal.... I did not know of any falconer and learnt most of it through a falconry book - M.H. Woodford's manual to falconry. I still think its a very informative book.

Put in your stories...

[Moses]

bros i got into it when i was small


very young, when i used to go for hols in pakistan when i was a wee boy, my grandfathers neighbour had a bird of prey which i thought woz an eagle when i woz small lol possibly a falcon or a goshawk, i woz too young to know the difference


and when i was a lil boy i watched my hero amitabh bachans film, coolie

u remember lol he plays a coolie in it and has a bop, her name woz Allah rakha :D (God protects or God keeps) in english

since that day i wanted one

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/4260/coolie1.gif



http://www.musichouseltd.co.uk/shop/images/coolie%20cd.jpg

[Sandeep]

I have the DVD of Coolie... I am his great fan too... If you watch a movie - Dharam Veer ( Dharmendra ) you will see a Peregrine being abused... Its a shame..

[Harrisii]

for me it was something which i knew i was going to do for many many years.

i have always been interested in nature and loved watching wildlife. i have a thing for predators as a lot of falconers do and i loved seeing wild BOP and would actively search out the nests of kestrels and spars and sit tight and watch the males bring food etc. (there were no other BOP near me then).

i got my first ferrets when i was 9 although my father and uncles always had them as i grew up. so i became a ferreter from there on. i would go to my ground (which i still hold) and watch in awe at the buzzards soaring over the hills.

as i grew up i still had a passion for BOP but new nothing as far as falconry was concerned.
then one day as me and the boys lay around the local park watching the footy with a few cans a fellow i knew came by with his hawk.
we chatted for a time and i held the bird but could only stare at it intensely.
i was hooked. i said to myself there and then that it was just a matter of time till i had me one of them.

the time was not right and i knew it would be a few years down the line but i knew it would be me.
so i went off to Uni, got my degree, became a countryside ranger, my dream job and found myself going round checking all the BOP nests in the district.
i just wanted to see them, i just had to. buzzards, spars, pere's, kestrels, tawnys. it was brilliant. in my spare time i wold go and see goshawks at their nests, ospreys, goldies, sea eagles, kites, etc

i new the time was comming that i would soon be getting the itch as far as falconry was concerned so i started to read books and more books.
i spent a year or so reading all i could on the subject.
i still had ferrets and was still ferreting on my time off. Luckily for me my father kept and cared for my animals when i was away at UNI for 4 years.

then someone was looking for ferrets and called me. he had 2 harris hawks. and i wasted no time in getting over there to see the birds and talk falconry.
he taught me a great deal and i was eager to learn.
anyway. he called me one day to tell me he was giving up the sport as his work commitments had changed and asked if i would be interested in his male HH.
it had just entered the moult and i was already in the proccess of building a mews in preperation for the following autumn when i would be looking to buy a bird. i jumped at the chance, right away.

the following season i was out there with hawk and ferret on my old hunting ground and have never looked back since.
i could never ever see me without a hawk now, and i am so in love with the sport that the moult time kills me.
i guess it was a natural progression from ferreting to hawking.

i gave up a lot to take part in this sport but it has changed my life for the better and i wouldnt change a thing. the best sport in the world as far as i am concerned. i love it. i love my birds, i live for my family and my hawking days, and i just wish the summer would go by so much more quickly.
best wishes. H.

[Berkut]

Watched "Kes" when I was 10 years old.The rest is history.

[MattSpar]

Hi There

Falconry is one of the weirdest of sports.

How do you work that out? Perfectly normal if you ask me. Football, cricket, now they ARE weird.

[Harrisii]

How do you work that out? Perfectly normal if you ask me. Football, cricket, now they ARE weird.

cricket maybe, but football is tops.
mon the gers. lol.

[Sandeep]

I never said abnormal.... I said weird.... If it wasnt there would be more falconry fans than football and cricket fans....

[Harrisii]

I never said abnormal.... I said weird.... If it wasnt there would be more falconry fans than football and cricket fans....

i prefer the word "eletist" sport.

[Sandeep]

i prefer the word "eletist" sport.

Sport of the Kings ...
:supz: :supz: :supz: :supz:

[Jackson]

i got into 7 years ago when in was ten!my nan took me to a bop centre in chichester and then i went home and drew the hh and saker! cos my gramps is an artist i was able to use all the fancy pencils etc, i handed them into the centre as soon as id drawn them. last year i went back and theyre still hanging up :supz:

its weird cos i was never an animal person! all my girl-friends wanted to be vets and work with animals etc but i was a tomboy and into mucking around on bikes :rolleyes:

but the day at the centre got me hooked! so i started reading bout birds in genereal at first then realised it was bops i realy liked (peres mainly)!

well 4/5 years later i was dong duke of edingborough and needed voluntary work so i went to a local centre and thats when i learnt all about falconry! Now all i do is study for alevels and falconry - couldnt ask for more!

[Moses]

I have the DVD of Coolie... I am his great fan too... If you watch a movie - Dharam Veer ( Dharmendra ) you will see a Peregrine being abused... Its a shame..


bros u bring back memories i loved that film, i watched dharam veer when i was a kid, jeetendra and dharmendra were awesome

i woz too young bros i cant remember the peregrine part

awesome film though :)

cheers

[Moses]

cricket maybe, but football is tops.
mon the gers. lol.


yeah gers the losers :D

[buzzbee]

Through a work placement.

[Harrisii]

yeah gers the losers :D

thin ice moses, thin ice, lol.

[Moses]

thin ice moses, thin ice, lol.


lol of course for david murray and his 11 muppets :D

[Nemesis]

Hi sandeep I started when I was about 5 my farther had grayhounds and a crossbreed dog he took me out with him showed me all thing,s to do with nature and were to find it wanted a kestral as a kid but would not let me have one .spent year,s hunting with grayhounds lurchers terrier,s extbut allways wanted bop but work and moving round ext stoped me now have time place and bop wish I had not wated so long 25 years lostbut will make up for it now all the best dave

[Jester]

i have been fascinated by owls (and other BOP) for years but always thought falconry was the preserve of the landed gentry with special licences and thousands of quid etc.

one day a about 4 years ago i had to swap works vans with another engineer and he had a falconry glove in it so i started quizzing him and found out it wasnt as hard as i thought. (admittedly he did try to steer me away from owls but it didnt work :lol: )

so some books, videos a course and a pile of cash later i find myself with Jester :supz:

[Harrisii]

lol of course for david murray and his 11 muppets :D

sorry its off topic folks but i canny let this go.

whats happening down at the biscuit tin town mate? lol
keane has gone, lennon is going, petrov is going, fat hartson is going, and next season when you win heee haw, strachan will be going. lol

over at the brox things are changing for the better and i can only see your mob going back to the old days of the 80s and 90s. i for one will be s******ing into my beer. lol

mon the gers. pmsl.

[Pink_Eagle]

I used to want to be a vet, so started doing work experience at varies places and a B.O.P centre happened to be one of thm, got hooked and got a job thr
now studying 4 A.levels

[ibrahim hassan]

On a holiday 2 Tanzanzia about 10 years ago, only 8 at the time we went 2 visit one of my dads friends. up on the roof under a large umbrella sat what i can only describe as a feathery plane lol. the sheer size and aparent power had me hooked from then on, somewhere in between me walking over 2 stroke this eagle and my dad and his friend running towards me telling me to not take a step closer i was mesmerised. Some 8years, several books and a fantastic mentor later i have my dream, a harris hawk but he will always be that eagle to me!

[Intek Hosting]

How do you work that out? Perfectly normal if you ask me. Football, cricket, now they ARE weird.
I'll second that :supz::supz:
As for Tennis, now talk about a weird whiplash sport and Thugby, who on earth thought of that one :rolleyes:
Golf, well if you ask me all golfers should be golf 'ed in reverse.

Go on hands up anyone who's prepared to admit to taking part in curling or Pole Vaulting, now there are two sports I'd really like to know how people get into???

As for falconry, well you either get it or you dont. My wife doesnt and bless her, she's tried hard to like Jessica, but she will always be just a big scary bird to my Katie.
How did I get into falconry, simple, a cat killed my Parrot and I needed a bird that could fight back next time :-)

Didnt realise it could be anywhere near as rewarding till I got my first hawk

[Falcon]

Left school and went to work in a bird park in Cornwall, started off as general bird keeper, then moved onto parrots. didn't really enjoy the parrots but had always shown a keen interest in the raptors and was moved to the bird of prey section. Left that job and worked for the Hawk conservancy as a demonstration falconer and the rest is history......................

[Nathan]

6 years ago a mechanic friend of mine brought his bird in to work for some manning. (Obviously I didn't know this at the time). I walked past his office and noticed this saker cross completely motionless on it's block. I moved in a lot closer to have a better look, thinking that it was stuffed, and then he moved and I almost followed through. That week I began volunteering at the local bop centre, read some books, did a 4 day course and within a few months I got Mr Bigglesworth, and now I am waiting for my female Peregrine, my last bird that I am allowed to have, unfortunately.

[Roo]

Still getting into it, but I guess reading a Kestrel for a Knave about 10 years ago, was really the beginning.

[MattSpar]

Go on hands up anyone who's prepared to admit to taking part in curling or Pole Vaulting

Not curling, but I've pole vaulted in my time.

[Iamtheweasel]

i prefer the word "eletist" sport.
Here, here ol' chap!!LOL!!

[FlameHairedFalconer]

I watched a wild spar eat its kill about 3 feet away from me on the other side of a window when I was about 8. I was totally stunned by the beauty and ferocity of her. Never considered falconry until I was about 17, spent a day at a bird of prey centre and my heart was totally impaled on the talons of these incredible creatures, and the fact that you could get closer than I had done at 8 years old.

Falconry drilled deeply into my soul from that point on. You are never an ex falconer, just a falconer without a hawk.

FHF

[BrianM]

lol of course for david murray and his 11 muppets :D


now now moses,, you know the celtic are just holding onto the league cup for us while we build a team and celtic lose theirs

[Intek Hosting]

Not curling, but I've pole vaulted in my time.

Sorry this is off your topic Sandeep, but I bet there's a hilarious thread hidden in there somewhere.

[Intek Hosting]

and my heart was totally impaled on the talons of these incredible creatures, and the fact that you could get closer than I had done at 8 years old. Falconry drilled deeply into my soul from that point on. You are never an ex falconer, just a falconer without a hawk.

FHF

You trying to make me cry or something :-)

[FlameHairedFalconer]

You trying to make me cry or something :-)

Did it work? :cry: :yawinkle:

FHF

[Intek Hosting]

Did it work? :cry: :yawinkle:

FHF

I'll answer that the day I'm hard enought to watch Kes to the end :-)

[MattSpar]

Sorry this is off your topic Sandeep, but I bet there's a hilarious thread hidden in there somewhere.

Some other time maybe.

[hawkgirlrandomnumber]

In high school I thought I was going to go onto art school or something like that, but I didn't really want to. I was always interested in the outdoors and hunting and became totally obsessed with raptors. Art school went out the window when I realized I'd much rather do something with bops. Eventually found a sponser in my area, got a job with them (bird control) and falconry was just the natural progression of that. Although perhaps it's too soon to call myself a falconer.

[Daniel.ONeill]

for me it was 4 years ago that i first wanted a bird,i saw the buzzards flying over the house and wished i could see one face to face, from then on wherever we went, if there was a BoP centre near i nagged my parents until we went, we then stayed there for hours all because i wanted to see ALL the birds fly before we left. Ioke to a man who said if i was so "Obsessed" i should take up falconry myself, my parents said no and that was that......until....the film "Hidalgo" came out i was happily watching when a man came on with his falcon. I remmembered how much i had wanted one and couldnt think of a fair reason why i wasnt allowed to get one, but i kept quiet because i didnt want to upset my mum, then i was cycling down the ridge way and saw a man with a female harris hawk, i realized there was no point holding back so i asked my dad, who said: wait until you can pay for it yourself, so i went to my mother, who has the technical capacity of a dead camel ( dont tell her i said that lol) and made a pathetic bet with her for 1000 pounds it was so obsurd that she seriously thought she would win, of co**** i had carefully planned it, i won and demmanded the cash, she refused to give me the cash but eventually agreed to let be get a hawk..... Phew that took a while.

[Afshimo]

Wish mine was shorter lol. Ok for a good read. Most of is is shortened...

My family have always been interested in birds of prey, held a HH when I was 2 (so proud) at the welsh birds of prey centre i think. about 1993

Did a couple young ppl's courses at Siloth, with HH, milky eagle owls and cool birds like that. think 1995

moved to Preston in spring of 1997, started volunteering by the autumn.

Did a good couple owlets courses with the 2nd lot of ppl.

1999They left, I went on to budgies for half a year or so, then new ppl came 2000, 3rd lot. Did owlets course, then a 12wk course with a pair of reds. OPart of the course was to look after a male Kes for 4 weeks. Brill.
They also left within a year i think?

Nothing much going on, still reading books, found the falocnry forum (yey) talking to other centre's etc. Lots of reading of course

4th lot, with Barn owl bil. Started volunteering at easter 2 years ago? think so lol. Progressed to doing all the displays with 8 birds and more, on and off creance.

In Between, Barn owl bill left, new ppl took over, Met Terry at Royal Lancs 2 years ago.

Got a Sakret (first bird) and gyr/saker.

With Terry, Helped out at a good few displays and really enjoyed them all, even when left exausted with 2 hours sleep and the toilets a good half hour walk away lol. Held a couple diff eagles, Tawny, Bald, Golden etc. Flew the Bald and a steppe - awesome! Lately a bateleur, another Goldie, black eagle and Martial.

To date, own a Harris hawk and loan a number of different bird when possible.

Short as it will go lol - lots of stuf inbetween but then things get a bit too personal.

[sparhawk]

I am only new to falconry and first got into the idea of doing it while talking
to a falconer at a county fair.

[Moses]

sorry its off topic folks but i canny let this go.

whats happening down at the biscuit tin town mate? lol
keane has gone, lennon is going, petrov is going, fat hartson is going, and next season when you win heee haw, strachan will be going. lol

over at the brox things are changing for the better and i can only see your mob going back to the old days of the 80s and 90s. i for one will be s******ing into my beer. lol

mon the gers. pmsl.

lol no worries we shall still kick your asses :D

nuff said lol

[Moses]

now now moses,, you know the celtic are just holding onto the league cup for us while we build a team and celtic lose theirs

#
welcome back brian mate :D


dream on sunshine lol

and sandeep bros so sorry aboot your thread, forgive us :D

[Harrisii]

moses. i feel a bet comming on. lol
what you willing to loose next season mate.. lol
what say we bet something decent on the winners of the league.


a years supply of jesses?
a pair of noble bells??
a hawking bag?
a years supply of chicks?
a male harris????

just let me know and we will get a wager on it mate.
i understand if you dont want to as you and i know you will loose. lol

i like the idea of a male harris though.... pmsl.

[Shannor]

This is a really interesting thread, Sandeep :)

How did I get into falconry? It's a long convoluted story, and I'm still adding to it, but here it is in short form :)

I've always been a bit of a bird lover (except that one blackbird that kept singing above my bedroom window at four in the bleeping morning), and I've always admired predatory animals. I also used to look out of the car window when we were going somewhere, and watch the kestrels hovering by the road-side, and really loved watching them. So of course, everytime there was a bird of prey display going on at a zoo, I would watch it.

A short while after having a cycling accident, we went to Woburn Safari Park, and I had my picture taken with a barn owl on my fist. What struck me about her (him?) is how soft her feathers were, and how nice she smelled, I found her presence soothing and exciting. I guess, though I didn't know it then, I was hooked.

When I moved to the United States, I was lucky enough to see wild Red Tails and Turkey Vultures soaring overhead, which absolutely captivated me. Up until that point, the largest bird of prey I'd seen in the wild was a kestrel!

Then, my husband and I went to a Renaissance Faire, and watched every falconry display that day. I even participated in one, and took a Red Tail wing-tip to the side of the head, and the only thing I could think about was "I hope I didn't hurt her!". I truly did feel miserable, until she flew past me again, as right as rain. During the day, we had been chatting to some people who worked with the falconer and would be leaving for another show soon, and at the end of the show day, we went down to introduce ourselves, and leave our contact number. Well, we got the job, and I assisted in every falconry display after that, helped clean bath pans, fetched food for the birds, and asked a great many questions of the falconer. I was lucky enough to have my tent set up just by the gazebos the birds were kept under during the day, and every morning, the Red Tail and the Harris Hawk would chirp to me when I came out of the tent. Then, I knew I was hooked, and began looking up everything I could find out about being a falconer in the United States.

It's going to be a long road, but I know I will one day be able to have my own bird.

[Richard]

I've always been abit of a nature boy lol

Had a particular fondness of birds until i reached the age of about 5 and went to a BoP centre, i suppose the rest is history lol :D

[Moses]

moses. i feel a bet comming on. lol
what you willing to loose next season mate.. lol
what say we bet something decent on the winners of the league.


a years supply of jesses?
a pair of noble bells??
a hawking bag?
a years supply of chicks?
a male harris????

just let me know and we will get a wager on it mate.
i understand if you dont want to as you and i know you will loose. lol

i like the idea of a male harris though.... pmsl.



lol no worries my friend


if i loose the bet i will buy u a few gloves from pakistan falconry ones, hows that and if u loose i want koto your male harris and also a female finnish goshawk :D lol

see who has the balls now lol

[EddieT]

I came across a falconry book by JPJ in a funny old book shop and something just 'clicked' there and then. It was at a time in my life where i'd virtually stopped fishing and shooting and I was just buying my first house. It felt like I'd found my calling.

Some years later, after my mother died, my father gave me a drawing book she had kept with all my childhood paintings in. Every other page was a picture of an eagle, a falcon or a hawk (the other pictures were of tanks, soldiers and jet fighters, aren't little boys great :) ). I then realised that I had been in some way 'destined' to be a falconer.

[Harrisii]

lol no worries my friend


if i loose the bet i will buy u a few gloves from pakistan falconry ones, hows that and if u loose i want koto your male harris and also a female finnish goshawk :D lol

see who has the balls now lol

mmmmmmmm...
ok i am so confident that if celtic win the title, you can have cotto.
hows that??

but if the gers win, (and they will) then i will have a few gloves, or a male harris, whichever is easier for you. lol.

but as for the finnish gos' well you can run and jump. pmsl.

[Moses]

mmmmmmmm...
ok i am so confident that if celtic win the title, you can have cotto.
hows that??

but if the gers win, (and they will) then i will have a few gloves, or a male harris, whichever is easier for you. lol.

but as for the finnish gos' well you can run and jump. pmsl.



lol im on mate cotto for me lol , u look after him for a yr mate :D

and sure mate a few gloves for u if my team lose

and peace , u have a cool weekend mate and all of u :D

[Harrisii]

lol im on mate cotto for me lol , u look after him for a yr mate :D

and sure mate a few gloves for u if my team lose

and peace , u have a cool weekend mate and all of u :D

you too mate.

cotto is my boy and i know you want him but mate, he going nowhere, lol...
i am that confident.
speaking to the guys and said i was chatting to you mucker, all say hello, hope you are good.
speak soon, chees buddy.

[Sandeep]

This is a really interesting thread, Sandeep :)

How did I get into falconry? It's a long convoluted story, and I'm still adding to it, but here it is in short form :)

I've always been a bit of a bird lover (except that one blackbird that kept singing above my bedroom window at four in the bleeping morning), and I've always admired predatory animals. I also used to look out of the car window when we were going somewhere, and watch the kestrels hovering by the road-side, and really loved watching them. So of course, everytime there was a bird of prey display going on at a zoo, I would watch it.

A short while after having a cycling accident, we went to Woburn Safari Park, and I had my picture taken with a barn owl on my fist. What struck me about her (him?) is how soft her feathers were, and how nice she smelled, I found her presence soothing and exciting. I guess, though I didn't know it then, I was hooked.

When I moved to the United States, I was lucky enough to see wild Red Tails and Turkey Vultures soaring overhead, which absolutely captivated me. Up until that point, the largest bird of prey I'd seen in the wild was a kestrel!

Then, my husband and I went to a Renaissance Faire, and watched every falconry display that day. I even participated in one, and took a Red Tail wing-tip to the side of the head, and the only thing I could think about was "I hope I didn't hurt her!". I truly did feel miserable, until she flew past me again, as right as rain. During the day, we had been chatting to some people who worked with the falconer and would be leaving for another show soon, and at the end of the show day, we went down to introduce ourselves, and leave our contact number. Well, we got the job, and I assisted in every falconry display after that, helped clean bath pans, fetched food for the birds, and asked a great many questions of the falconer. I was lucky enough to have my tent set up just by the gazebos the birds were kept under during the day, and every morning, the Red Tail and the Harris Hawk would chirp to me when I came out of the tent. Then, I knew I was hooked, and began looking up everything I could find out about being a falconer in the United States.

It's going to be a long road, but I know I will one day be able to have my own bird.

Thank you my dear....

All the very best to you and hope you get your bird soon.....;-)

[Sandeep]

lol im on mate cotto for me lol , u look after him for a yr mate :D

and sure mate a few gloves for u if my team lose

and peace , u have a cool weekend mate and all of u :D


Shame on both you guys... One betting for the bird and the other even wiling to accept it..... If anyone had to lay a bet for any of my birds.... For soething as weird as Bush and Blair were married..... I still wouldnt bet bet even a feather of my bird....

I would rather gift it than lay it as a bet...:yawinkle:

[Sandeep]

#
welcome back brian mate :D


dream on sunshine lol

and sandeep bros so sorry aboot your thread, forgive us :D


Not in the least bro..... Its our thread and a bit of fun is always welcome...;)

[Moses]

you too mate.

cotto is my boy and i know you want him but mate, he going nowhere, lol...
i am that confident.
speaking to the guys and said i was chatting to you mucker, all say hello, hope you are good.
speak soon, chees buddy.


lol cheers mate and say hello to the boys, i miss them, we had so much fun :D lol cant wait for hunting season again mate lol

u have a blessed weekend my frien and the boys too

[Moses]

Shame on both you guys... One betting for the bird and the other even wiling to accept it..... If anyone had to lay a bet for any of my birds.... For soething as weird as Bush and Blair were married..... I still wouldnt bet bet even a feather of my bird....

I would rather gift it than lay it as a bet...:yawinkle:



lol ok then bros gift it then haha, gift it to me and make it a female goshawk :D

[Moses]

Not in the least bro..... Its our thread and a bit of fun is always welcome...;)


thank u very much my dear bros :)


u have a cool weekend inshallah and peace

good thing is u understand a bit of arabic now lol :D but i speak punjabi only say some words in arabic

peace bros

[Harrisii]

Shame on both you guys... One betting for the bird and the other even wiling to accept it..... If anyone had to lay a bet for any of my birds.... For soething as weird as Bush and Blair were married..... I still wouldnt bet bet even a feather of my bird....

I would rather gift it than lay it as a bet...:yawinkle:

LOL, THATS HOW CONFIDENT I AM MATE.
MY WEE COTTO AINT GOING NO PLACE MATE.
SOUNDS HARSH I SUPPOSE BUT ALL IN GOOD FUN MATE. LOL.

[Moses]

LOL, THATS HOW CONFIDENT I AM MATE.
MY WEE COTTO AINT GOING NO PLACE MATE.
SOUNDS HARSH I SUPPOSE BUT ALL IN GOOD FUN MATE. LOL.


u really reckon that frog eater is gonna help your team lol :D my ****


lol a so called proud british team that signs up a french manager lol, so funny :D

[Dude]

I asked my mother how its started coz I dont remember. She told me I was 4yrs old and my mother and I was out in every weekend out at the mountains to have a lunch at the woods. I always watched the "eagles" what were buzzards :D I like to get closer to them, but they are just soaring high above us and never come closer. I am raised in a gunhunters family so I asked every hunter what I known to get a buzzard chick for me. I was mad to get one, but nobody was known a falconer... The answer to get one is always NO. Than when I was 10 my father took me to a falconer who was my first mentor. I liked to stay there that night and my father said OK. We was up whole night and I was attacking the falconer with my questions. In a week I was learnt how to make my own equip. and a lot about the birds. Sum weeks l8er when I was arrived to my mentor he said he have a present. And YESSSSS it was my firs buzzard. An injured male who lost one of his half wing after electroduced on a post. I was very happy and I started to make a perch, hood, leash etc for my birdie. I was kept him for half yr. I trained him to jump to the glove and the buzzard started to flying again with a half wing :) OK not a big distance but a few meters. sadly the bird got a nasty pox virus and my mentor told me that euthanasia may be the best. :( After that I got a passage female spar. than goses, a kestrel etc.........

[Matthew Patching]

I have no idea what has led me down this road to where I am today. Always been interested in birds, my old man used to use me as a party trick, he'd open a bird book and ask what it was, Id say 'oh that thats a grey phase tawny owl, or thats a steppe eagle, or thats a dunnock' and aparently I wasnt even at school yet.

Bought my first bird of prey without my parents knowledge, god Id like to find the breeder that sold me that bird and give him a good kicking, Trained up my little barn owl, and havnt looked back.

My first hunting bird was a creche reared (badly) female redtail, then a spar.

Now my role in life is to fly my birds without finding the way to the divorce courts. So I have to have 1 day a week at home with the family, well unless the hills start calling and the wind persuades me otherwise.

[Gerry4292]

I have alway's been in love with bop's,even as a child.never missed a wildlife programe incase bop's where shown.now at 42 with the kid's almost grown and a wife as mad as me,I can get to grip's with a lifetime's dream of falconry.
Never in my life have I waited so long to do something I have wanted to do.But now everything is right I can fulfill my dream's.
COME ON THE HOOP'S.
Scott's and Irish we are one.:grin:

[FalconMistress]

I was brought up with it. With me dad being KentishFalconry i didn't really have much choice but i love it:supz:

[Eznugud]

Same here, brought up with it…

My earliest memory is going to pick up a male {passage} Finnish Goshawk with my Dad in the early 70`s.
I was about 5 years old and sat in the back of the van with him on the way home, he was in a crate type box with larger slits in it…..I remember him staring at me all the way home.

They cost about £40 then……..

[Yeoman]

always been fasinated with bop. as for the falconry part ,the film my side of the mountain , the vikings and not forgetting kes, that was filmed a few miles from were i live

[Eznugud]

always been fasinated with bop. as for the falconry part ,the film my side of the mountain , the vikings and not forgetting kes, that was filmed a few miles from were i live

Kes.....a mate of mine was an extra in the class room bits.
Look to the left south bound on the M1 just after J36 and you will see to old barn gable end where he got Kes from.....

[Yeoman]

Kes.....a mate of mine was an extra in the class room bits.
Look to the left south bound on the M1 just after J36 and you will see to old barn gable end where he got Kes from.....

no were you mean ive stood under it myself , half expected the old man to come round the corner and say nar then whats tha think thar doin

[Black Hawk]

watched a goshawk take a pidgeon off a bird table right in front of my eyes :shock: :-D ! This started a lovce for the birds and then i started to haelp out at the falconry school im at and it escalated from there. In my opinion that was the greatest thing nature has ever, ever done for me.

[Mark Collins]

A friend of mine at school picked a tawny owl up as a youngster in a wood , i was amazed by it , i tried to get it of him for ages until his brother let it out of the shed that he was keeping it , it was never seen again , but i was hooked, mark.

[Josephien]

I haven't started yet but i'm allready hooked!
When i was a kid, i was riding on my little BMX in the woods. I allways liked going out on my own, enjoying nature and all his aspects. I could stop for a squirle and stand still for 15 minutes, just looking at it without moving, scared that it would run away. But one day i saw a BOP, back then it looked to me like a giant sea eagle but that's impossible in our country.(unless escaped)
Anyway I was young it was realy big!!
I saw the bird and could do nothing else then follow it...
First on my little BMX, then over a fence, true a private would, again over a fence, (sweatshirt riped) run and run... Then it landed in a tree, I stoped and sneaked closer, I was sitting there for more then 2 hours just watching the bird do his maintenance. Goosebumps all over... From that day on i was thinking of BOP all the time, and now I'm old and wise enough of thinking to get me one of my own!

[Gary F]

went falconry displays/centres, chillam castle saw emma ford in her younger days,, and a place in great yarmouth,then i got hooked,

[CJTaylor]

A always keen on wildlife and bidrs of prey,my dad fetched an injured tawny home when i was 9, it only lived a month but that was it, and although i used to ferret, keep dogs and help run a pheasent shoot as i got older, i never got birds untill my twentys? and never been without since.

[Kevin Massey]

Went over to the breeder on the Sunday Paid me money...Ordered everything off martin Jones on the monday...it turned up on the wed picked up the bird on the Thurs .

The Thurs was the first time I had ever seen a harris (other than the breeding pair through the spy hole)....and the first time I had any B-O-P on a glove:oops: :oops:

[SteveL]

When i was at school typical lads always on the rake through the woods and such like,and i would gaze at the sky at soring buzzards or a kestrel hovering.My freinds dad has been in faolconry for years and when i used to go to his house his dad was either flying a bird ,:supz: cleaning the mews or hood making so for me thats what got me into falconry.

[Tigger]

Hi There

Falconry is one of the weirdest of sports. How did you guys get into it.

Well for me it was crazy.... My home town is in place called Mangalore. Its still heaven to me. Its densly covered with forests and there is a lot of game. The draw back is that one can fly short wings only. Back to the point... when I was a little boy I saw a kite snatch chicks from our hens... I then used to get chicks from our hens and put them in a opening so that the kite could take it... I got thrashed by my grandmother for doing that.

Much later I saw some footage on falconry and I was hooked on to it..... I got my first bird - shikra almost 10 years later. Since falconry is not legal.... I did not know of any falconer and learnt most of it through a falconry book - M.H. Woodford's manual to falconry. I still think its a very informative book.

Put in your stories...

i went out shooting a lot wen i whas 10 and i got up close 2 a kestral and sore haw butifel it whas and then Watched "Kes" and that didit for me and i whas mad abaut birds of pray from then on and then i got my first bird a fhh wen i whas 20