Finally a Quail!

[Pete J.]

I've been flying this intermewed female Shin that I originally got last season for breeding. Since she didn't lay last year (her immature year), I decided that since she's an imprint it might be a good idea to fly her to maintain a better bond with her, which is what I do with my imprint/breeder goshawks if I can. We've been having an exceptionally hot/warm fall and getting her serious enough for quail has been difficult. She was focused on much smaller quarry so far this season, until today.
Took "Mini" out this morning. She weighed 159 grams. Didn't see anything until I was getting back near the truck. Then heard a quail. So I moved over that direction and she spotted one about 60 yds ahead as it jumped up and fluttered down into a small shallow ditch with a bunch of tallish thick weeds. I got closer and when about 6 feet away a nice covey of about 25 Gambel Quail started flushing out. She blasted off and took one hen in the air about 10 feet away in typical fashion...rolled over on her back and grabbed the chest of a full grown quail and coasted to the ground with it. Got over there and she had it under control no problem..like she's been doing it all along..even though this is our first one since I've had her. She killed some last year with the falconer that raised her. Hopefully she'll repeat again and again and again!:lol::supz:
Here's some pics:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x4/mass2k7/quail.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff174/petej1956/minifistquail1.jpg
Pete J.

[GregMik]

Awesome Pete!!! Looks like you are going to be having lots of fun now!!

Greg

P.S. I edited your post so the pics would show in the forum. If you click on edit you will see how I did it.

[Alan G]

Nice one Pete and may she repeat it again & again.

ATB

[SolidLeo]

Nice one Pete, and many more to come!!!!!!!!

:weedman:\m/(';')\m/:weedman:

[Hacker]

hey, well done that man and bird!

[Alf]

Nice one! She is a good looking hawk. Alf.

[Pete J.]

Awesome Pete!!! Looks like you are going to be having lots of fun now!!

Greg

P.S. I edited your post so the pics would show in the forum. If you click on edit you will see how I did it.

Thanks Greg. I checked edit...is it the bracketed img thing that did it I assume?

[Pete J.]

Thanks all. Now that weather is finally sort of resembling Fall (and it's nearly Thanksgiving...ugh) I suspect she's liking the chilly nights. And we're loaded with quail this year so she should do a few more before I put her up in early December to prepare her for early breeding. Provided, of course, if I can keep the abundant Cooper's hawks that are migrating in here from snagging her. In the last couple of days I have seen dual Coops (twice) following each other around and I have never seen that before. Not a good sign when you start seeing two at the same time.
Pete J.

[GregMik]

Thanks Greg. I checked edit...is it the bracketed img thing that did it I assume?


Yup that is it!


Greg

[Mark Collins]

Great picture,good hawking,mark.

[FrootDog]

Wish we had quail around here. We too are having warm weather that is making hawking difficult. Still in the 80's here.

[FredrickFogg]

Thanks all. Now that weather is finally sort of resembling Fall (and it's nearly Thanksgiving...ugh) I suspect she's liking the chilly nights. And we're loaded with quail this year so she should do a few more before I put her up in early December to prepare her for early breeding. Provided, of course, if I can keep the abundant Cooper's hawks that are migrating in here from snagging her. In the last couple of days I have seen dual Coops (twice) following each other around and I have never seen that before. Not a good sign when you start seeing two at the same time.
Pete J.

Congrats Pete! She looks like she will be doing that a lot if you can find her the slips. I know what you mean with the coops, the last two times I flew the merlin I have had coops circling above screaming at us while she was on the lure eating.

Fred

[Pete J.]

Wish we had quail around here. We too are having warm weather that is making hawking difficult. Still in the 80's here.
Well, take a little time off and come to just barely into NM by El Paso...lots of BLM land and the quail are thick this year, particularly anywhere close to a pond or stock tank.

[LongDog]

Nice going Pete, beauty of a bird, is she a NM Sharpie? I know they nest here but I think they are tougher to find then gosses.

Paul

[SparsTheOne]

excellent pete,sharpshin,s are amazing looking hawks,I,m pleased for you mate,onwards and upwards dude.:supz::supz::supz::supz:


jase.

[Pete J.]

Nice going Pete, beauty of a bird, is she a NM Sharpie? I know they nest here but I think they are tougher to find then gosses.

Paul
No she's a Cali shin Paul. Hoping to slip a little gos semen in her...that's what she's really here for.
I've been out and about here in the mountains and while I've seen shins, not very many and never found a nest. I'm remember that Tom S. said he found some in Jemez mts. when he was doing a gos survey a few years back. I figure you have to find just the right spot to have them, likely someplace along so of the few little mountain rivers. I know in Calif. when I found my gos nest out there 30 years ago that I also found the only active shin nest I've ever been to and it was within the goses nest territory in a dense stand of smaller spruce trees (30-50 footers) within the goses area of 150 footers.
I've gotta say, a shin is pretty fun once you get the weight issues worked out. There is rarely the lack trigger that sometimes is complained about with Coops. So they're more like a gos than a coop in that regard.

[Pete J.]

Thx Jase.

[Tasha55403]

A little late, but :supz::supz:

[Pete J.]

I didn't fly Mini this season for a few different reasons, mostly because I knew she was getting old enough to finally start breeding. So she has entered a new phase this Spring. Check out the video.
http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff174/petej1956/?action=view&current=Mininestbuilding.flv

[Emma]

fantastic bit of footage pete

[Mark Collins]

Good little video, smart hawk, whats your plans ,mark.

[Pete J.]

Good little video, smart hawk, whats your plans ,mark.
She's an imprint so I don't have much of an option in this country. So I'll be trying to put some Gos semen in her from my tiercel. Most people assume that it would make a Cooper's Hawk, but I have a feeling it will be quite different from that bird...even if it might be a similar size. Behaviorally the Shin and Gos are quite different from the Cooper's, and actually the Shin and Gos appear closer behaviorally in many ways. We'll see...I'm not holding my breath or anything that dramatic!:roll:

[Tasha55403]

She's an imprint so I don't have much of an option in this country. So I'll be trying to put some Gos semen in her from my tiercel. Most people assume that it would make a Cooper's Hawk, but I have a feeling it will be quite different from that bird...even if it might be a similar size. Behaviorally the Shin and Gos are quite different from the Cooper's, and actually the Shin and Gos appear closer behaviorally in many ways. We'll see...I'm not holding my breath or anything that dramatic!:roll:

Vocally the sharpie and gos are more similar to each other than to a coop, too. A coop sounds kinda like a kookaburra to me, whereas a sharpie just sounds like a miniature goshawk:lol:

[Pete J.]

Vocally the sharpie and gos are more similar to each other than to a coop, too. A coop sounds kinda like a kookaburra to me, whereas a sharpie just sounds like a miniature goshawk:lol:
Actually, if you've ever heard the 'rally' call of the Harris'...it's quite similar to the Coop's. The other day there was a pale Cooper's (immature bird) that has been hanging around lately. Although she hasn't taken any of my pigeons, she does sort of bounce them off the windows from time to time. Anyway, it was a nice, warmer than usual, spring day and she was sitting up on the power pole just outside our property line. I noticed she was eyeballing me as I walked around the yard tending to my own birds (it's breeding season so I'm out there walking around quite a bit). I noticed at one point that the Coop had taken off and was circling over our yard and her undertail coverts were flared. I know that with accipiters this is a common 'call sign' that they are getting hormonal. So, being as she was just about 50-100 feet up and circling lazily, I decided to start 'cuking' at her...doing my best advertising call. She then really flared her coverts and started 'cuking' back at me. This went on for about a minute, then she swung around and landed in a neighbors' conifer tree. I thought about it for a minute and decided to shut up. The last thing I want is a Cooper's nesting the backyard! Fortunately, that may have been her swan song as I haven't seen her since that day...so with any luck she went to find some other place to set up a nesting territory!:supz:

[Tasha55403]

Yesterday I had just gotten home and was going in the house when I heard a sharp "dik". It immediately brought to mind your sick sharpie call:lol: I looked up and sure enough, in the oak tree over my garage was a male coop. His undertail coverts were flared and he called a few more times, bowing and pecking at the tree. It was really cool. Especially when I spotted the female in the woods behind my yard. She was calling back to him with HER undertail coverts flared. Then he dove off the branch he was on and disappeared behind the garage, shortly followed by the female. When I went around to see where they went they had disappeared. I was pretty sure they were nesting in the woods back there, somewhere. Now, I have no doubts:supz: The only trouble will be deciding whether or not I want a passage coop or a merlin, now 8-) I'll have to see what kind of hunting grounds I can round up before I really decide which to go with this year:heart:

[Pete J.]

Yesterday I had just gotten home and was going in the house when I heard a sharp "dik". It immediately brought to mind your sick sharpie call:lol: I looked up and sure enough, in the oak tree over my garage was a male coop. His undertail coverts were flared and he called a few more times, bowing and pecking at the tree. It was really cool. Especially when I spotted the female in the woods behind my yard. She was calling back to him with HER undertail coverts flared. Then he dove off the branch he was on and disappeared behind the garage, shortly followed by the female. When I went around to see where they went they had disappeared. I was pretty sure they were nesting in the woods back there, somewhere. Now, I have no doubts:supz: The only trouble will be deciding whether or not I want a passage coop or a merlin, now 8-) I'll have to see what kind of hunting grounds I can round up before I really decide which to go with this year:heart:
Hey now...maybe he was smoker too? Cough cough....'duk'!LOL
I'm sure they're in the preliminaries up there...a little early. But I imagine they aren't going to be too far away. By the way, that immy that I spoke of previously was back again last evening...sigh...they're coming out of the woodwork!