Afra - a 3yo Saker falcon

[Afshimo]

25/09/04: MID AFTERNOON: Got home with her in box, she changes boxes whilst she was coming, the stupid guy made his own box and it wasnt worth a penny, it broke 2 primaries in blood (gutted) and an old deck feather. Opened the lid and held on to the leash, put the jesses in safty and mopved out into the open. Like a red/white angel she flew around scared of my glove, then she was still for a few seconds, checking me out then, almost as if she was happy, flapped and places herself on my glove. She gaped for a bit, then settled down, pretty quick for a bird that hasnt been touched for a year. A took a few step's forward, then 2 back. She kept on looking at me with these understanding eye's. I'm positive she judges people! She relaxed a bit more, the little feather below her lower madible stood out, like a mo-hekon. I put her on her perch, it was a wide black plastic european block, rubber topped. she bated a couple more times, then just studied the garden.

LATE AFTERNOON: It was time to mann her up a bit, she is pretty relaxed on her perch, no signs of stress(I'd ben watching her in the window). I went up and crouched about 3m away, she bated, I waited till she came back to the perch. Let her look at me again, I did the same. She liked to make eye contact, everytime she did I bobbed, she bobbed back. I went in closer, she put he wings out just about to bate, so I called to her, she didnt have a name then - that was still being decided by the "Grand Jury"(my mum, sister and me) so I jus said hi, believe it or not she looked again at me and bates, oh well I thought, atleast I could get her attention. I went in quick, took the leash, end wrapped around the little finger, knot un-done and stood up as the white Terror bated away from Orange glove.finally she stopped, so picked her up by the back, and sat her on my glove. Managed to get her inside to the living room. It was 6 when she entered my house, 9 when she got back outside. I spend most of the time talking to her, she relaxed and after the first houre roused herself, she almost fell off the glove! (I'd like to thank Terry Large for the glove! lol, best one so far!) Around half 8, I noticed her eye's becoming smaller and her head drooping, great I though, she going to sleep. Then she just laid down on my glove, and fell asleep - I was amazed!

Thats Afra's first day, trying to get some research on her history properly. She's got an IBR ring on, does this mean they (IBR) know when she hatched ect?It would be nice to find out, thx everyone
Hannah

[Sparrow Hawker]

Great post Hannah, let us know how you get on with Afra. With regards to her age the IBR should have the details of the date she was hatched. Did you get any IBR papers passed to you when you received the bird?

All The Best,

HH

[Wightwings]

super post Hannah really enjoyed that. good luck :D

[Snudz]

Hiya Hannah,

Good to hear of another happy saker lover. Have you got any photos?

Cheers

Andy

[North East Harris Hawker]

hey hannah!
nice post, i hope you find out the info from ibr, good luck with your new friend 8)

[Darren]

Hannah.....hows it going

[Afshimo]

Hiya,

Afra's back, and I'm starting to get her up and going. I'm trying a diff method this time, and hopefully get her used to the hood abit more to, as she still hates it!

And, incase you get confused, Afra is a male! I bought him as a female,got a female name and still call him a her, but I'm not to bothered. Its the bird that counts!

Got him out today, jesses, swivel, leash and hood on. I'm using a med sized swivel, a wierd loop leash off Griff - MJ hoods. The hood is off Steve Hallsall, nice fitting, and cus he's not used to hood, bit bigger than normal.

Blocked out most of the day, had a bath out, nice warm water too, but her never went in (had a drink though) Came in quick after school, picked him up, 2/3 bates as normal till I got the hood on, walked him round for 10 mins and popped him on the scales. 1lb14 1/2. Greedy gob lol. He's havin bout 8 chicks normally, 6 when he isnt so hungry. Will have 5 in morning sometimes, then 3 or so later on.

Just manned him infront of the TV for a couple hours, he settled pretty quickly on the glove, I rekon he'll be bidable in 3/4 weeks, just gona take my time. Want to try start flying him in the easter holidays, then maybe good ole lure work in the fields.

Also, I'll be getting him strutting his stuff down the centre, he's a pure bred, looks pretty and small, so the public like him.

I'll try my best to keep you imformed, but its just going to plenty of manning for awhile now, see what me little sakret is capeable of!

[Afshimo]

Pics of me little sakret!

[Afshimo]

and more...

[BFC 007]

looks like a nice little chap hannah,shall post a pic of my saker when i sort my camera out

[BFC 007]

Hannah,thought you might like to see my 50/50 pale phase male gyr/saker from last year- he's a cracker

[Afshimo]

Lovely looking bird! What does he fly at? Who was he bred by?

[BFC 007]

bred by peter gill at falcon mews in south yorkshire-flying weight 1lb.13

[Afshimo]

cool, whats his name?

I'm trying to remember all my fav names for falcons, so far I got Maverick, Enigma, Takeo and Tyrant! Bit wierd but I like em cus u cn make short names outa them.

I'm also hopin to get a nice white fase, but that depends on what the breeder has left. If there arnt any white fase, it'll be a cream phase, like BFC007 lol.

What was your gyr/saker like to train? Big fish and anyone else with a gyr/saker?

[BFC 007]

his name is sky,reason for that is he just carves it up.
Never been up to a kite but goes up to 700-1000ft just by hiding the lure
The first couple of weeks of training he was a handfull,constantly bating,hated the hood then with plenty of manning he just clicked into place
Once on the creance that was it,he was flying free within 3 wks of him being taken up from the hack pen-one of the best birds i have flew

[Afshimo]

You will have to excuse the hood, it will be coming off soon! Dont worry!

[Gaz]

Does it work like an invisible cape :?: cant see it.. :!: :mrgreen:

[Bubo]

hi hannah you will have to increase the amount of pixels

[Afshimo]

thanks for that, just settin more up, got sum nice ones hopefully, half of em were blured!

[Afshimo]

Hiya, Dads havin a mess round with the pics, so should be done for tomorow (fingers crossed)

Afra's been very good today! She jumped up to my fist, I think the cold weather put an edge to her hunger today, she ate a chick of the fist yeaterday, and jumped for 2 2day. She'll be right in no time lol. But I'm going to keep it steady, get her coming to the lure will be next. She's comin to a winged lure this time though, not a leather pad (too dangerouse I think)She's already leting me tickle her chin, toes, wings buts and keel her chest. She's looking good too, must have been all that pheasant and quail!
She's better with the hood. Only one bate to put in on, even then she stayed still and let me close the braces. Well happy!

[OhMyGod]

Hi hannah, just wondering if you can answer few questions for me? how long have you been training afra? what weight does she jump to fist and how many chicks?

[Afshimo]

Hiya, had Afra in october. She jumps at 1lb 9 1/2. Will fly at 1lb 81/2 or so. She gets about 4 chicks a night, to keep her at flying weight. When moulting, anything from 5-10 chicks dependent on weather! (By the way, she is a he! My fault!)

[Saker71]

Hi BigFishCatcher007

I had a male saker called sky too and without any kite training i hide the lure and he go up 1000 feet or more and show the lure he stoop all the way and do that for 20 times or more he was great but sadly i lost him last year he died i was heart broken

[OhMyGod]

cool, how come you think lures with wings on are safer? I know I worry about wings on my lure and try to change them as often as possible as they scratch the feet when dry and can cause bumblefoot, so you really need to catch alot to change them every day. I am paranoid about this to the extent that I spray the feet with dettol antibacterial surface cleaner if my lure is a few days old.

Have you flown afra to the lure much?

[Afshimo]

Hiya,

I havnt really flown afra to the lure much, this year, she wont know whats hit her! I'm hopin to get her fit for awhile, get her doing some lure work during the summer hols, get her nice and fit.Then wen autumn comes, try abit of hunting, just partrige or whatever is big enough for her.

Same here with feet, I use warm water and antibacterial stuff to clean her feet (havnt been doing during moult, they look a right state!)

I think lure wings are softer, for a falcon flying at, say, stooping 80mph, would u rather hit a leather pad or feathers lol. Also, I would like to try hunting, so she has an idea at what her quarry item is gona look like.

What birds do you fly Oh My God? Sounds like ure a longwing man ure self?

I've been helping to train a lanner on the creance, and a male gyr/saker. The lanner wil be going free once he has a tail mount on him. The gyr/saker is doin o, just needs pursueding a tad lol. At the centre, I'm landed with the ferutail, jackal, ferug, 4 harris and anythin else that needs a bit o TLC. The jackal is a dream lol, called Yo-yo, flys 2lb 12. Proper little eagle (even though she isnt!) The ferug hits quite hard at mo, and is pretty clumsy. Still a good bird to fly.

[OhMyGod]

is the jackel an african jackel buzzard? If so I trapped a really haggard one and tried to get it to vert a lure. I have never tried to train a more stubborn bird in my life It must have been sooo old! lol it was a rusty coulour and all it would do was fly in to trees and sit there catching geckos. I just wanted it to go up but it wouldn't do jack even with big thermals!! lol just sat there. I persevered for months and got nowhere.

I just have my eyas pere/saker at the mo who has taken 50+ rooks and a few gulls. She is finished now till she is intermewed.I can't wait for her to moult out.

I am going to buy a falcon for black headed gulls this time as they are all I see and I hate the little blighters. Perlin.

yeah those ferugs have some speed heah!?

What are you hoping to do with the gyr/saker when he comes?

[BFC 007]

hows afra doin hannah? :D all good i hope !!!

[Afshimo]

yeah thx, doin great, comin regular to fist now, just 2ft or so. Will start goin to 5m on creance now.
she's much better with the hood now. She's starvin at 1lb 12 . Didnt think she'd b flying at this weight lol. I'm not to bothered. I have checked my scales too! Mind u, I need to buy another one, cus the top came off, and broke! So I'm savin up £50 for decent set.

she's also looking better now, I spray her everyday with warm water an cean her feet up a bit. lookin like a proper saker too lol. Aww!

[BFC 007]

all sounds good, had to take my saker to vets today as i noticed she was a bit lame on left foot
turns out to be an infectection just behind her middle toe,the vets gave me some anti-biotics & some magnesium sulphate paste to dress the toe with
she should be okay in a day or so,gonna give her plenty of flying tomorrow to take the weight of her feet & i shall try & post the photo of her

[Sprout]

I worry about wings on my lure
There are uses for lures with wings and without. When flying in front of the public I agree leather pads are more beneficial as it might not appear acceptable to the public to see a pair of wings being swung around. However, wing lures do have more benefits. I actually think winged lures are less likely to cause bumblefoot than a heavy leather pad. A hard hitting falcon will do less damage to it's feet impacting a pair of wings as oppossed to a solid leather pad (ask some one to smack you in the face with a leather padded lure or a pair of wings then ask yourself what hurt the most - it's the same for the birds!) As far as feathers scratching the feet to cause bumblefoot??? How??

[Afshimo]

hius, I hope ure Saker gets better soon. Please do give us sum photo's!

[OhMyGod]

Ok when icatch a rook I pull its wings off and attatch them to my lure. After a few days the wings become dryer, the feathers are attatched to bone so your wings are not just feathers but bone as well and these wings when been attacked on the lure by your falcon become sharp on some edges due to being dryer and more brittle. This is ideal for harbering bacteia that will cause bumble foot. All I'm saying is if you use wings on your lure be sue that all scratches to feet are cleand or spayed as eventually you will get problems.

I TOTALLY disagree that a leather pad (nobody said it had to be heavy) will cause bumblefoot more so than one with sharp bones and wings full of bacteria. If your bird strikes the lure it will not be as bad for sure, however most birds will get hold of the lure and grip it tightly, this is when scratches appear.

IF YOU THINK A LEATHER PAD CAUSES BUMBLEFOOT MORE SO THAN ONE WITH WINGS YOU ARE VERY MUCH MISTAKEN AND ARE GIVING OUT WRONG INFORMATION.

[Shaun Byrne]

Yeah you tell him OMG, what does he know, he's only a vet! PMSL!!

[BFC 007]

Hi Hannah,here is my saker-Blondie.
She weighs 2lb-took her out today & got 40 pass's from her in two bouts then i flew her to a dead rook at 100 meters-still trying to get her chasing

[Afshimo]

Lovely looking bird. What she called?

If you ever need a partner for breeding, I'm sure my male would happily oblige lol. He's 3 going on 4.

[Darren]

very nice pics

[BFC 007]

called her BLONDIE as her parents are really white & i reckon this one will turn out the same

[Afshimo]

I'm going to see if I cn post a pic of afra lol. One that you can see lol...

[Afshimo]

I tried to make it bigger! Whoops!

[BFC 007]

photo's a lot better hannnah

[Darren]

cool

[Sprout]

TOTALLY disagree that a leather pad (nobody said it had to be heavy) will cause bumblefoot
Thats your opinion but don't suggest mine is wrong OMG! For your information leather harbours far more bacteria than feather and cannot be replaced as easily!!! I agree there are times when leather pads have uses over winged lure but your arguement for not using wings as they cause bumblefoot is completely flawed. I completely agree with you again in that it is important to regularly inspect and clean your birds feet but bumblefoot is generally not caused by a puncture wound. Poor perching and lack of fitness is FAR more important. A correctly made winged lure should not cause problems as far as bone fragments being exposed and as far as feathers getting brittle, well replace the wings?

[Sprout]

If you want to test this then send me your lure and well swab it and see what grows, think you'll sh*t yourself when the results come back!

[OhMyGod]

Ok sprout I read mty thread and think it is a bit harsh, but while working on landfils my feathered lures do get covered in alot of nasty stuff. I cant clean it so well as if I were just using leather, but choose to use winged lures as we know they are better. I honestly believe that for display falcons you should not use winged lure more many reasons, the public may object, you do not want you bird chasing things and hunting, they are easier to wipe clean daily with anti-b spray, and it's hard to find fresh wings if you're not hunting so you will tend to use old ones all the time, which I still believe is unsafe. My pere saker if flown and put in loadsd of effort on a rook comes back to my lure will destroy it in seconds ripping my wings to pieces cos she is really angry, leaving bone fragment

[Afshimo]

Hiya,

Afra's really comin on lol. Weighed in at 1lb 10. Came strait to fist 5-6 times, then I got the lure, quicky put a chick on (only cus I didnt think she'd b this quick, I normally buy sum beef from shops) and swung it 2/3m infront. She bobbed then flew in to side, hopped on and tucked in. She then came to my fist for full chick reward then jumped 1m for big turkey poult (no legs) So today, she's had 4 chicks, that will keep her on flying weight tomzo as it's gona b cold tomzo. She's such a good bird!

Also, I might not b getting a gyr/saker, an old (5yo) harris hawk is comming up for sale. She isnt any old harris hawk, she's a 2lb 8 female sonoran called Suzy. She;s special cus she's the one who hates men! So Mal is getting a tad annoyed with her I guess, so he said he wil putting her up for sale later on in the year! If she does, gyr/saker or no gyr/saker I'll b having her! She's real soft if ure a lady, pick her up no glove, hold her like a baby etc. But to men...different story altogether. If she is put up for sale, I can have 2 dream birds lol. I'll just wait...WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

[Darren]

i thought it was a myth about birds liking males or females.... when i done my course last year they had a female Saker that would jump at males & start biting but if a female picked her up she was fine.

[Bubo]

well it has to be said we are the better of the two sexes hehehehehe. Men were created to be used as the draugh copy!! hehehehehehhe. only kidding guys.

your afra sounds just great hannah and i enjoy reading your progress. I always thought the sakers were small for some reason!! but they look pretty chunky sorry.
bubo

[Afshimo]

Hiya,

More great news lol. Afra is really coming on in leaps and bounds. She is coming a full 25m to fist, and 50m to creance regular now. Her best weight is 1lb 8 3/8. she is responsive and very keen. I'm ordering a plastic tail mount, which I'll put on, and I'm getting 2 bells off Mal, prob lahore bells. She's very friendly now, not OTT either lol, think it was just the hormones lol. She's used to the dog a bit better now, hates cats (want's to hunt ours lol) She's getting a bath tomrrow, she's a right muck pot again, nothing that abit of water wont sort, and I'm going to take out the yokes from every other chicks from now on, so her feet/cere go blue again.
Bubo - Afra is quite small, bout the size of an average harris lol. I got told they are quite big falcons, taking after gyr's or something like that, which i do believe lol. I think sakers are pretty chunky, thick thighs, stubby wings (ish??) and fluffy cheeks lol. Still going to put him down for breeding when I go to college, so I'm nosing for a nice, big white female Saker. He's a good bird, just more of a one-man bird lol.

Thats it for today, tomorrow I'm cleaning is box out again, washing the bath and putting that out by his block, which I MUST remeber to move into the sun so he can dry off.

See y'all later!!!

(and more pics hopefully!!)

[Afshimo]

some more of Afra again!